Badminton: Top Indian shuttlers crash out

Top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal, P Kashyap and Ajay Jayaram crashed out in the second round of the Hong Kong Super Series yesterday after all three faced defeats to round up a disappointing day for India, according to The Hindu. While Olympic bronze-medallist Saina endured a 21-19, 21-15 defeat to former world number one Wang Lin in a women’s singles match, Ajay suffered a loss to world number one Lee Chong Wei 21-18, 21-19. In other matches, Ashwini Ponnappa and Pradnya Gadre suffered a 21-17, 21-18 defeat to Thailand’s Duanganong Aroonkesorn and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul in the women’s doubles competition. In mixed doubles, top-seeded Chinese pair of Chen Xu and Jin Ma ended the journey of India’s Pranaav Chopra and Siki Reddy with a 21-16, 21-10 victory.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23^rd, 2012.