Odense (Denmark): Indian shuttlers had a disappointing outing at the Denmark Open Super Series Premier as Saina Nehwal, P.V. Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth lost their respective quarter-final matches here Friday.
While 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist Saina lost to World No.2 Shixian Wang of China 20-22, 15-21 in 45 minutes while two-time World Championships bronze medal winner Sindhu went down 23-25, 20-22 to South Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun.
Rising male shuttler Srikanth failed to move past South Korea’s Wan Ho Son, who won 23-21, 21-17 in a 45-minute encounter at the Odense Sports Park.
In the match between Saina and Shixian, the World No.7 Indian pressurised the former World No.1 with her immaculate drop shots and quick movement but missed the killer instinct in the end to lose the first game 20-22 before the Chinese stamped her authority in the second game, winning it 21-15.
In the semi-final Saturday, Shixian will meet compatriot and World No.3 Yihan Wang, who registered a facile 21-12, 21-17 win over fellow Chinese Liu Xin.
In the other match, Sindhu matched the class and quality of World No.4 Ji Hyun in a 59-minute match which saw a lot of long rallies. The World No.10 Indian opened up a 10-6 lead in the first game before the South Korean clawed her way back into the game with some clinical play.
Ji Hyun also had her way in the closely-fought second game, winning 22-20 to set up a semi-final date with 2012 Olympic champion and World No.1 Li Xuerui.
