Orleans Masters: Saina Nehwal knocked out, Mithun, Priyanshu advance

Olympic medalist Saina Nehwal crashed out in the first round of the ongoing Orleans Masters after losing to Nelishan Yigit of Turkey in straight games 21-14,21-16 on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old Turkish shuttler came through qualification after defeating Anupama Upadhyay of India.

The 2023 season has not started well for the former Commonwealth Champion Saina Nehwal as she suffered her fourth early exit. The 33-year-old shuttler has played four tournaments in 2023 and failed to progress beyond the round of 16.

Apart from losses, Saina pulled out of tournaments such as All England Open and German Open for reasons best known to her.

In other results, Sameer Verma suffered a first-round exit while Mithun Manjunath and Priyanshu Rajawat advanced to the men's singles second round of the Orleans Masters tournament in Orleans, France on Wednesday.

Verma who won the first game 21-19 could not hold the lead as he lost the next two games 19-21, 21-19, and 21-17 against Ireland's Nhat Nguyen.

Manjunath had to battle hard against a higher-ranked Victor Svendsen of Denmark to register a 24-22, 25-23 victory while Rajawat beat compatriot Kiran George 21-18, 21-13.

Manjunath will play Taipei's Yu Jen, who was lucky to progress after fifth seed Rasmus Gemke retired in the second game after pocketing the first.

Rajawat, on the other hand, will be up against top seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan. Nishimoto prevailed over Taipei's Chia Hao Lee 21-18, 21-11.

(With PTI Inputs)