Doha: Teenage badminton sensation Saina Nehwal bowed out in the women's pre-quarterfinal match as Indian challenge in the singles event at the XVth Asian Games ended with Anup Sridhar and Chetan Anand also making exits in the men's event.
While 16-year-old Saina, the world junior runner-up, and Sridhar went down after a tough fight to their rivals Eriko Hirose of Japan and Ponsana Boonsak of Thailand, former national champion Anand was routed by fourth-seeded South Korean rival Lee Hyun Il.
Pitted against Hirose, the fifth seed, Hyderabad girl Saina fought hard in an extremely close opening game in which she saved four game points but then ran out of steam to suffer a 23-25, 7-21 defeat in 34 minutes in the women's singles section.
In the men's category, Bangalore-based Sridhar fought back from an opening game reversal to level things before sixth seed Boonsak regained his composure to triumph 21-17, 19-21, 21-16 in 53 minutes.
In contrast to Saina and Anup, who managed to hold their own, Anand had no answer to the quality of play exhibited by fourth seed Lee, who took just eighteen minutes to dispose of the Indian 21-6, 21-9 and storm into the quarter-finals.
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