Saina loses on comeback, Sindhu win in China

Saina Nehwal's comeback ended with a opening round loss but Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu crossed the first hurdle at the China Super Series Premier in Fuzhou today.

Three months after limping out of the Rio Olympics because of a severe knee injury, fourth seed Saina was back on the court however, her contest against Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk concluded with a 16-21, 21-19, 14-21 loss in a women's singles match that lasted for almost an hour.

London Olympics bronze-medallist Saina, who had won the China Open title in 2014 and reached the finals last year, will next play at the Hong Kong Super Series next week.

Seventh seed



Sindhu, however, had no problems in the challenge from Chinese Taipei's Chia Hsin Lee 21-12, 21-16 in just 34 minutes. The two-time bronze medallist at World Championship will next play USA's Beiwen Zhang.

In men's singles, Ajay Jayaram and H S Prannoy also reached the second round after notching up contrasting wins with their respective opponents in the opening round.World No. 23 Jayaram won playing China's Zhu Siyuan 21-19, 20-22, 21-17.He will next play the winner of the match between Hong Kong's Wei Nan and sixth seeded Korean Son Wan Ho.

World No. 28 Prannoy won playing Hong Kong's NG Ka Long Angus 21-13, 21-13 in another game.