Badminton’s power couple Saina Nehwal and her husband Parupalli Kashyap participated in the All England Open Badminton Championship 2021 in Birmingham. The duo was soon knocked out of the game. Saina Nehwal was facing Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt in the women’s singles opening round. The 31-year-old Saina was forced to retire hurt from the match.
Saina’s husband Parupalli Kashyap also bowed out in Round 1. The Commonwealth Games gold medallist was going down 13-21, 20-22 against two-time world champion Kento Momota in the men’s singles competition. This was Momota’s first tournament since he fractured his eye socket in an accident in Malaysia last year.
Saina Nehwal became the third high-profile Indian badminton player, who bowed out of the All England Open Badminton Championships 2021. The first was Kidambi Srikanth who was out of the prestigious tournament when he lost to Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen in three games. Second Parupalli Kashyap.
It was a good day for PV Sindhu, she sailed into the next round, with a comfortable 21-17, 21-11 win over Malaysia’s Soniia Cheah. The Olympic silver medallist gave a disciplined performance. The fifth-seeded Indian will face Denmark’s Line Christophersen next.
Indonesia’s badminton team were forced into isolation by UK coronavirus contact-tracing rules, It forced the team out of the All England Open.
The start of the prestigious All England Open was delayed after a number of COVID-19 tests yielded both “positive” and “inconclusive” results. All were retested and proved negative. The games started five hours late.
Also Read: Birthday Predictions: Will Saina Nehwal Actively Jump into Politics in 2021?