Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal's return to the court was shortlived as she crashed out in the second round of Thailand Open after being stunned by unseeded Sayaka Takahashi of Japan in the women's singles event in Bangkok on Thursday.
Seventh seed Saina, who returned to action after nearly two months, squandered a game advantage to lose 21-16 11-21 14-21 against Takahashi in second round duel that lasted 48 minutes.
also read
- 'Seems like BAI is happy to put me out of CWG, Asiad': Saina
- Saina Nehwal to skip selection trials for Commonwealth, Asian Games
- India Open: Sindhu advances, Saina knocked out
- 'Want to see what all injuries my body can cope with': Saina Nehwal
- ‘Used to like him as an actor but this was not nice’: Saina on Siddharth's remark
In the absence of PV Sindhu, who withdrew in the last minute from the event, Saina's ouster marks the end of India's campaign in the women's singles.
Saina had earlier made last-minute withdrawals from Indonesia Open and last week's Japan Open because of injuries.
However, it was good news for India in the men's doubles event as the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty moved into the quarterfinals after registering a straight-game 21-17 21-19 win over Indonesian combination of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto.
The India duo will next play qualifiers Choi Solgyu and Seo Seung Jae of Korea on Friday.