The second day of the Japan Open started on a worse note for India with Saina Nehwal suferring a shock exit from the Japan Open as she lost her second round match against Minatsu Mitani in straight sets. Later, HS Prannoy and Kidambi Srikanth were also dumped out of the men's singles competition.
Saina, who could not come up with her A class game against Mitani, grabbed headlines after an early exit. The Indian shuttler was below par as the local favourite closed the match in straight sets 21-13 and 21-16.
However, one must give due credit to Mitani, who looked in great form against Saina.
With this loss, India's run in the singles arena has come to an end after PV Sindhu lost in the first round of the competition, also against Mitani.
There were huge hopes from the Indian duo, especially Saina, who won silver in the world championships.
Saina' loss was followed by Prannoy and Srikanth's exit from the competition as they lost against Lee Dong Keun and fellow countryman Parupalli Kashyap, who will be the lone representative for India in the Japan Open, respectively.
South Korean Lee Dong Keun got the better of Prannoy, who looked helpless against his Korean opponent. The score read 21-9 and 21-16.
The onus falls on Kashyap to salvage pride for India as he played a brilliant game to oust Srikanth out of the Japan Open. The match was expected to to be a close one, but Kashyap with his aggressive game took the game against Srikanth, who lost the match 21-11 and 21-19.
Kashyap will face a tough match up against Chou Tien Chen in the quarter finals on Friday. If the Indian player can come up with another tremendous performance, Kashyap can keep Indian hopes alive.
