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What's the story?
Saina Nehwal has suffered a shock defeat in Round 1 of the ongoing 2020 Thailand Masters Super 300 tournament. HS Prannoy also went down fighting against Malaysia's Liew Daren at the Indoor Stadium Huamark in Bangkok.
The background
Many top Indian shuttlers have decided to give the Super 300 tournament a miss as the dates clash with the ongoing Premier Badminton League (PBL).
On January 21, the first day of Thailand Masters, Venkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangan had bowed out in the Mixed Doubles qualifications after suffering a 10-21 10-21 defeat at the hands of Japanese pair Kyohei Yamashita and Naru Shinoya.
Earlier on January 22, Kidambi Srikanth bowed out in Round 1 after suffering a 21-12 14-21 11-21 defeat to Indonesia's Shesar Hiren Rhustavito. Sameer Verma also made a round 1 exit after his straight-set loss to Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia. With these losses, only Saina and HS Prannoy remained in contention.
Saina Nehwal had made it to the quarters of the Malaysia Masters 2020 but bowed out in the first round of Indonesia Masters 2020 after her loss to Japan's Sayaka Takahashi. The ace Indian shuttler was expected to make it far at the Thailand Masters with players like PV Sindhu and Tai Tzu Ying not in contention.
Saina was leading India's charge in the tournament. The former World Number 1 faced unseeded Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark in her opening match at Thailand Masters. The ace Indian shuttler held a 4-0 head-head record against the Dane going into the match.
The heart of the matter
Saina Nehwal suffered a shock defeat against Line Højmark Kjaersfeldt. The 25-year-old Dane defeated the fifth-seeded Indian shuttler 21-13 17-21 21-15 in a match that lasted 47 minutes. This is Saina's first loss to Line.
After the exit of Sameer Verma and Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy was the only Indian in contention in the Men's singles category. The ace shuttler was favourite to win his opening match against Liew Daren, against whom he held a 3-0 head-to-head record going into the encounter.
However, the lower-ranked Malaysian shuttler punched above his weight to defeat Prannoy 21-17 20-22 21-19 in an intense match that lasted 1 hour and 8 minutes.
With these defeats, the Indian challenge at Thailand Masters 2020 comes to a disappointing end.
What's next?
Current World No.18 Saina will now have an uphill task in qualifying to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Even HS Prannoy has dented his chances. With only a few tournaments to be played before April 26, the cut-off date for qualification, the Indian players must resurrect themselves at the earliest.
