Mumbai: The most awaited comeback performance of the former world no. 1, Sania Nehwal, ended on a disappointing note, with her defeat in the very first round of China Open. However, Olympic silver medal recipient, P V Sindhu successfully jumped over her first hurdle to advance at the $700,000 China Super Series Premier in Fuzhou on Wednesday.
After recovering from the knee surgery, all eyes were glued on Saina Nehwal. Saina Nehwal, who is also known as India’s golden girl was making her comeback at this Fuzhou tournament after a three-month hiatus. Saina Nehwal is the lone Indian to win the China Open in 2014 and she also reached last year’s final.
Currently, World No. 6 (Saina Nehwal) eventually could not make it to Round 2 and lost her battle for the title this year. She succumbed to Thailand’s Porntip Buranaprasertsuk and lost with a score line of 16-21, 21-19, 14-21 in a 59-minute battle. She had beaten her Thai rival 9 out of 10 times before but this was a different occasion.
Just days before the China Open, Saina admitted that her career might come to an abrupt end.
“Many people will think my career will end and I won’t come back. I also think somewhere deep in my heart that maybe it is the end of my career, so let’s see how it is. It is just about how to take care of my body and be in good shape because these injuries are quite painful,” Saina had said.
Seventh seed Sindhu, who hooked ample number of fans and hopes with Rio Olympics performance, prosperously secured these faming terms. Effortlessly she ditched every challenge thrown by Chinese Taipei’s Chia Hsin Lee 21-12 21-16 in just 34 minutes. The two-time bronze medalist at World Championship will next take on USA’s Beiwen Zhang.
In men’s singles, Ajay Jayaram and H S Prannoy also walked out with flying colours, as they managed to reached the second round after facing extremely grueling matches.
World No. 23 Jayaram, showcased worth appreciating performance against China’s Zhu Siyuan and prevailed 21-19 20-22 21-17 in a match that lasted for an hour and two minutes.He will next take on the winner of the match between Hong Kong’s Wei Nan and sixth seeded Korean Son Wan Ho.
World No. 28 Prannoy got rid of Hong Kong’s NG Ka Long Angus 21-13 21-13 in another match. The Swiss Open champion will face the winner of the match between Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen, seeded seventh, and China’s Qiao Bin.