Saina Nehwal cruises to 2nd round, Kidambi Srikanth bows out

ndia's star shuttler Saina Nehwal eased into the second round with a commanding win over Belgium's Lianne Tan but the seasoned Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of Malaysia Masters badminton tournament on Wednesday.

Nehwal defeated Belgium's Lianne Tan 21-15, 21-17 under 36 minutes whereas Kidambi had to bow out of the competition after losing against Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.Chen defeated Srikanth 21-17, 21-5 in a match that lasted for just half an hour. Saina, who claimed the Indonesia Masters last year, has struggled since making a series of early exits in the rest of the year.

On Tuesday, Indian doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out of Malaysia Masters after losing to Malaysia's Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi. The duo lost 21-15, 18-21 and 21-15.In the 52-minute long encounter, the Malaysian pair had the upper hand in the first game, which they won 21-15. The Indian pair came back strong and took the second game 18-21. Yew Sin and Ee Yi won the third game 21-15.Later, Parupalli Kashyap will take on top seed Kento Momota in men's singles. All other top India shuttlers, including PV Sindhu, Sameer Verma, and HS Pranoy will also be in action.Also Read | Malaysia Masters: B. Sai Praneeth knocked out in 1st round