Singapore: Defending champion and fourth seed Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Singapore Open Super Series badminton after losing to Cheng Chieh Shao of Chinese Taipei 21-8, 10-21, 19-21 in the second round here on Thursday.
The first two sets were a one-sided affair but the decider went down to the wire in a match that lasted 52 minutes. It was the first ever meeting between the two players and it was the World No. 10 Cheng who got the better of the fourh-ranked Indian. Cheng will face Tine Baun of Denmark in the quarter-final.
Saina, who was hoping for a better result than her quarter-final finish in the Thailand Open last week, had beaten 2009 world champion Lu Lan of China in the first round on Wednesday.
The other Indians, including the doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta, bowed out of the competition on Wednesday.
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