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Saina, Srikanth disappoint at BWF Super Series
Dubai: Ace Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth had a disappointing start to their campaign at the BWF Super Series Finals as they suffered straight-game defeats on the opening day of the prestigious event here on Wednesday.
World No.2 Saina seemed to struggle with her ankle injury as she went down 14-21, 6-21 against Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in a women’s singles match which lasted 35 minutes. The World Championship silver medallist will play World No.1 Carolina Marin in another Group ‘A’ match on Wednesday.
World No.9 Kidambi Srikanth, who had reached the finals of Indonesia Masters Grand Prix Gold last week, suffered a 13-21, 13-21 loss against Japan’s Kento Momota in a men’s singles Group ‘B’ match at the Hamdan Sports Complex.
The 22-year-old Indian will next face Viktor Axelsen of Denmark on Thursday. Saina, who came into the match with a 4-0 head-to-head record against Okuhara, with two of this wins coming this year at Asian Championship and China Open, could not play her best game as her ankle injury restricted her on-court movement.
Okuhara zoomed to a 5-1 lead early on but Saina soon engaged her rival on long rallies using her tosses and drops and also judged the shuttle well in this conditions to claw back at 8-8. The Indian grabbed the lead when Okuhara hit wide but Okuhara came back to win.
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