All England Open Badminton Championships 2023: PV Sindhu falls at first hurdle!

PV Sindhu during her defeat to Zhang Yi Man of China at Birmingham yesterday. Pic/Getty Images

There was no end to PV Sindhu's poor run as the star Indian shuttler made a first round exit from the All England Championships after losing to Zhang Yi Man of China in straight games, while Kidambi Srikanth defeated Toma Junior Popov of France in three games to advance to the second round here on Wednesday. Srikanth won 19-21, 21-14, 21-5.

The World No. 9 Sindhu, a double Olympic medallist, lost 17-21, 11-21 in the 39-minute women's singles contest.

This is the third time that Sindhu has lost her first round match this year.

Kidambi Srikanth

She had lost to Carolina Marin of Spain in Malaysia Open in January before exiting the Indian Open at the same stage in the same month.

She had recently parted ways with her coach Park Tae-sang of Korea, under whose guidance she won a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.

Rusty and subdued

Sindhu was rusty and subdued throughout the match with her World No. 17 opponent showing more agility and attacking intent.

There was not much to differentiate initially between the two who had 1-1 head-to-head record before Wednesday's match.

Sindhu led 6-5 and then made it 16-13. But the Chinese shuttler won seven straight points to lead 20-16 before taking the first game in 21 minutes. In the second game, the two players were tied 5-5, but Sindhu committed a few unforced errors and was soon down 5-10. Sindhu recovered a bit to trail 7-11 but was soon down 9-16 before losing the second game and the match.

Earlier in the day, India's women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela stunned seventh seeded Thailand duo of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai 21-18, 21-14 in a 46-minute first round match.

The Indian duo will meet the Japanese pair of Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota in the pre-quarterfinals.

Also Read: 'I am confident, positive and learning from my mistakes', says star shuttler PV Sindhu

Nehwal pulls out

Meanwhile, Indian ace shuttler Saina Nehwal has pulled out of the tournament, the reason for which is yet to be known. The Olympic bronze medallist has been replaced by Singapore's Yeo Jia Min.

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