Saina Nehwal faces crushing defeat in NZ Open

Saina Nehwal who is ranked World No. 9 in Women’s Singles by the Badminton World Federation has been eliminated in the first round of the Barfoot & Thompson New Zealand Open 2019 that is currently being held in Eventfinda Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.

The year 2019 began with a promise for Saina as she won her Indonesian Masters 2019 title in January. All seemed to be fair for Saina when she was put against world no. 212 Wang Zhiyi of China.

Saina began with a little shake but was expected to comeback. But the Indian champion struggled to Saina was 16-21, 23-21, 4-21 against Zhiyi . The match went on for an hour and 10 minutes.  Along with Saina, India’s Anura Prabhudesai and Lakshya Sen also were defeated in the tournament by their respective opponents and India’s dream of claiming the title has faded away.