Malaysia Open 2023: Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth suffer first-round exits
What's the story
The Indian badminton contingent has been dealt a major blow, with shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth exiting in the first round of the Malaysia Open. Srikanth, a former world number one, lost 19-21, 14-21 to world number 17 Kenta Nishimoto in the Super 1000 event. As for Nehwal, the Olympic bronze medalist succumbed to a 12-21, 21-17, 12-21 defeat to China's Han Yue.
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Nehwal going through a poor run of form
World number 30, Nehwal had an injury-marred run in 2022. She could reach only one quarter-final across 14 tournaments. While she hoped to start 2023 on a high, her hopes have been quashed with the straight-game defeat.
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Gopichand-Jolly enter second round
The Indian women's pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly beat Hong Kong's Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam 21-14, 21-19 to progress further. The 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze-winning duo will face Bulgaria's Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva.
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Aakarshi Kashyap bows out in first round
Aakarshi Kashyap, who won silver in the 2022 CWG mixed team event, lost to Chinese Taipei's Wen Chi Hsu 10-21, 8-21. Indian men's duo of Krishna Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Panjala lost to Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae of South Korea 10-21, 18-21.
Performers
Plenty of stars to be in action
2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist PV Sindhu will be up against Carolina Marin in her first-round match on Wednesday. 2022 CWG men's singles champion Lakshya Sen will be squaring off against compatriot HS Prannoy. Meanwhile, the 2022 CWG gold-winning pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty will face South Korea's Choi Sol Gyu and Kim Won Ho in the men's doubles fixture.