The Indian campaign at the ongoing India Open 2023 ended in disappointment as Saina Nehwal, the final remaining shuttler from the country at the competition, faced a straight-game defeat to World No.3 Chen Yu Fei of China on Thursday. Yu Fei beat Nehwal 21-9, 21-12 to cruise to the quarterfinals of the tournament, where she faces Supanida Katethong, who had defeated title favourite PV Sindhu in the opening round earlier this week.
It was a fairly straightforward win for Yu Fei as she wrapped up the match in merely 32 minutes. The veteran Indian shuttler had no reply to Yu Fei’s lighting-fast speed, and a series of unforced errors didn’t help Nehwal as she went down in straight games. Earlier on the day, defending champion Lakshya Sen had faced a three-game defeat to Rasmus Gemke of Denmark in the second round as well.
Also read: Lakshya Sen crashes out in 2nd round as Indian challenge ends in men’s singles at India Open 2023
India’s day had begun with a rather unfortunate withdrawal of star doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. Satwik reportedly pulled up a groin strain that forced the reigning champions to pull out of the competition; they were scheduled to take on China’s Yu Chen Liu and Xuan Yi Ou in the second round. This was immediately followed by a second-round ouster of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnu Goud Panjala тАУ the last remaining men’s doubles pair from India at the tournament тАУ as they faced a 14-21, 10-21 loss to Chinese pair of Lian Weiking and Wang Chang.
The women’s doubles duo of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly also failed to make a mark, losing in straight games to sixth-seeded Chinese Zhang Shu Xian and Zheng Yu in the women’s doubles pre-quarterfinals.
Earlier in the tournament, Kidambi Srikanth went down fighting against World No.1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark on Wednesday, while PV Sindhu, who is making a comeback after a five-month injury layoff, also faced a shock ouster in the first round. Another men’s singles hope HS Prannoy was knocked out by compatriot Lakshya Sen on Day 1 of the tournament.
This is the first time since the tournament’s restart in 2008 when no Indian will feature in the quarterfinals across any category.
