Asian Badminton Championships | Saina , Sindhu, Srikanth and Prannoy bow out of tournament
All of India’s hopes for a medal in the ongoing Badminton Asian Championships were crushed as ace shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth, PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy were all knocked out of the competition today. They will next look to bounce back in the upcoming World Championships in July.
 In the women’s singles semifinals, Saina came up against an old nemesis in the form of Chinese shuttler Tai Tzu Ying and despite putting on a brave performance, succumbed to the Taipei's determined effort as she eventually won 27-25, 21-19. Sindhu, on the other hand, had bowed out on Friday itself after she was humbled by to Korea's Sung Ji Hyun in the quarter-finals by a score of 21-19, 21-10.
Among the men, top-ranked BWF athlete Kidambi Srikanth suffered a rather disappointing defeat to Malaysian shuttler Lee Chong Wei for the second time in a month, as he bowed out with a final scoreline of 21-12, 21-15. HS Prannoy, who was one of the last few Indian contenders left in the tournament, got knocked out in the men’s semi-finals event by Chinese opponent Chen Long. Long was dominant throughout the match, but Prannoy managed to put up a late fight-back before facing defeat by a scoreline of 21-16, 21-18.
Though the quartet of Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy might have lost this battle, they have all managed to secure spots at the upcoming World Championships to be held in Nanjing, China from July 30 to August 5. They will look to avenge their respective losses and come back stronger.