Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponappa knocked out of All England Badminton Championships

Meanwhile, Saina Nehwal and the fast-rising H S Prannoy notched up contrasting wins in the women’s and men’s singles competitions respectively to reach the second round at Barclaycard Arena.

Olympic bronze medallist, Saina, seeded third, hardly broke a sweat before getting past Indonesia’s Bellaetrix Manuputty 21-8 21-12, while Prannoy eked out a hard-fought 16-21 21-8 21-18 win over France’s Brice Leverdez in the opening round last night.

World No. 3 Saina will next take on Korean qualifier Kim Hyo Min, while Prannoy faces England’s Rajiv Ouseph in the second round.

There was heartbreak for World No. 5 K Srikanth and Ajay Jayaram as they failed to cross the first hurdle and crashed out of the competition.

While fourth seed Srikanth lost to Kento Momota of Japan 18-21 21-12 15-21 in an hour and six minutes match, Jayaram too fell by the wayside after more than an hour long match against China’s Tian Houwei 14-21 21-19 14-21.

P Kashyap had also crashed out in the first round, while men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri-B Sumeeth Reddy registered a stunning win over seventh seeded Chinese duo of Chai Biao and Hong Wei.