New Delhi: Top-seeded Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Thailand Open, going down 13-21, 12-21 to Xuerui Li of China in the quarterfinals at Bangkok Friday.
Saina, who suffered bruises after tripiing on the treadmill last week and has been playing with painkillers, lost to the seventh-seeded Chinese in half-an-hour. She had beaten former world champion Lu Lan of China in the first round.
India’s challenge in men’s singles also ended with Parupalli Kashyap and Sourabh Verma losing their quarterfinals.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Kashyap lot to Chinese top seed Chen Long 18-21, 5-21.
Sourabh gave a tough fight to third seeded Korean Sung Hwan Park but went down 21-16, 16-21, 11-21 in an hour-long duel. (Agencies)