After high comes the low: Sindhu out in first round, Saina falls too

Kuala Lumpur, Fresh from her triumph in the Indian Open Super Series, India’s top badminton player was in for a rude shock here, getting knocked out of the Malaysia Open Super Series in the first round today. Sindhu was beaten 18-21, 21-19, 21-17 by China’s Chen Yufei in a 68-minute thriller. Earlier, Saina Nehwal was also knocked out in the first round, beaten 19-21, 21-13, 21-15 by Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi, the world No. 2.
Sindhu shocker
Last Sunday, Sindhu had beaten Olympics champion and world No. 3 Carolina Marin in the final to win her maiden India Open crown. With the title, Sindhu was poised to rise to world No. 2 when the rankings are next updated. But today she was sent crashing down to earth.
In the first game, there was little to separate Sindhu from Chen as they fought hard to stay together until 12-12. Sindhu managed to pull away at this point, stringing together six points in a row, for an 18-12 lead. Chen gained three points here, but Sindhu still had a slim 18-15 lead. Chen narrowed down the lead to two points twice after that, but each time Sindhu pulled away, eventually winning with her first game point.
The second game was even closer — the most points the two players won at a stretch in this game were only 2. Sindhu had the better start for a 6-2 lead, but Chen caught the lanky Indian at 6-6. Sindhu struggled to stitch two-point leads several times, but Chen came right back at the Indian. This went on till 18-18, when Chen made her move — she took the lead for the first time at 19-18, was caught at 19-19, and then won two points in a row to take the game 21-19.
In the decider, the two women stayed together until 7-7, when Chen pulled away decisively. The Chinese player was not caught by Sindhu after that, leading 15-9 and then 19-16 and finally closing the game and match at 21-17.
Saina falls
Saina, the former world No. 1 who is now ranked No. 8, fought hard against Yamaguchi, the current world No. 2. The Indian star made a dominant start, surging to a 13-10 lead in the first game. Yamaguchi managed to bridge the gap to just one point, but the unseeded Saina held her nerve to take the game 21-19. However, the rising Japanese star, 19 years old, levelled the match by winning the second game 21-13.
In fact, Saina led midway through the game, at 11-8; however, Yamaguchi caught Saina at 11-11 and never looked back after that — the teenager reeled off six points in a row for 18-12 and easily closed the game at 21-13.
Yamaguchi, the momentum with her, began the third game aggressively, though Saina managed to keep pace with her until 12-12. After that, it was almost a replay of the second game — Yamaguchi took an 18-16 lead and closed the game at 21-15.
Sai Praneeth raised hopes of a big upset when he won the first game (21-18) against China’s Lin Dan. The Chinese great, however, won the next two 21-19 21-18 to keep the Indian from advancing to the next round.