Thailand Open: Disappointing India's campaign ends in Round 2

India's campaign ends at the ongoing Thailand Open on Day 3 with everyone bowing out. Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal returned to the Thailand Open with high hopes but she lucked out on Thursday. She lost to World No.12 Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand in the pre-quarterfinals, leading to her exit from the ongoing tour, scheduled to go on till January 17.

It was a neck-and-neck challenge with the final tally of 21-23, 21-14, 21-16 and a hard-fought second-round defeat for Nehwal who was playing her first tournament since the All England Open in March last year. Earlier on Wednesday, Nehwal won over Malaysia’s Kisona Selvaduray in straight sets to advance to the second round of the event. Just two day ago it was reported that the former world no 1 had tested positive for COVID-19 in the bio-bubble in Bangkok and reportedly pulled out from the tournament as well. However, later the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) clarified the misunderstanding saying that it was a false positive. Read about it here.

Earlier, Kidambi Srikanth gave a walkover in his Round 2 match due to a right calf muscle pull, which ended India's chances in the men's singles event.

The star Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out of the men's doubles event after suffering a straight-games defeat in their second-round contest on Thursday. Satwik-Chirag suffered a 19-21, 17-21 defeat against the Indonesian duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in a match that lasted 34 minutes.