China Open: Saina fails to get past Porntip

HYDERABAD: Saina Nehwal's much awaited comeback turned into a damp squib as she suffered a first round loss against Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand 16-21, 21-19, 14-21 in the China Open Super Series Premier in Fuzhou on Wednesday.
However, PV Sindhu, Ajay Jayaram and HS Prannoy brought some cheer to the Indian camp registering first round victories.
Lack of match practice and nagging injuries slowed down Saina.Despite playing for the first time after August, the ace shuttler showed a lot of gumption for fight. She stayed close till the 16th point in the first game and fought back a number of times to win the second game.
The 26-year-old looked lost as Porntip opened with a 9-2 lead in the second game. Saina, however, was in no mood to relent as she cut the down the deficit and caught Porntip at 13-13 with a five-point burst from 8-13. Porntip powered ahead again and widened the margin to 17-14 but Saina scored two important points here and from 16-18 she took the lead by notching up three successive points before winning the game at 21-19.
After two hard fought games, the Indian ace ran out of gas in the decider. Saina worked hard till the 10th point but thereafter she ran out of steam as Porntip won the last 11 points without much difficulty.
Incidentally, this is Saina's first opening round loss after April 2014. Interestingly, Saina will face the same opponent in the first round of Hong Kong Open next Wednesday. Though she lost Saina said she was satisfied with her performance. "Even though I lost early I am quite satisfied with the way I played. I am feeling good about my fitness level and it will only get better for me from here. I am quite confident of getting back to my best soon and really look forward to play the Premier Badminton League," Saina said.
Meanwhile, Sindhu was at her dominant best in the straight game victory against Chia Hsin Lee of Chinese Taipei 21-12, 21-16. Sindhu will face USA's Beiwen Zhang, who downed Hsu Ya Ching 21-16, 21-18, in the second round on Thursday.
The women's singles resembled a sick bay as top players retired mid-way during their matches. Second seed and former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand retired trailing 0-4 in the first game against Akane Yamaguchi of Japan while reigning All England champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan retired at 6-11 in the first game against Pui Yin Yip of Hong Kong.
In men's singles HS Prannoy trounced Ng Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong 21-13, 21-13. Prannoy will face China Qiao Bin in the second round.
Seasoned campaigner Jayaram recovered after losing the first game to beat Chinese qualifier Zhu Siyuan 21-19, 20-22, 21-17.
Former national champion Sai Praneeth failed to put up a fight against Marc Zwiebler of Germany 16-21, 9-21.
Indian results (Rd I): Men's singles: Ajay Jayaram bt Zhu Siyuan 21-19, 20-22, 21-17; HS Prannoy bt Ng Ka Long Angus (HK) 21-13, 21-13; Marc Zwiebler (Ger) bt Sai Praneeth 21-16, 21-9.
Women's singles: PV Sindhu bt Chia Hsin Lee (Tpe) 21-12, 21-16; Porntip Buranaprasertsuk bt Saina Nehwal 21-16, 19-21, 21-14.