India Open 2022: Saina Nehwal bows out after losing second-round match

Malvika Bansod defeated Nehwal 21-17, 21-9 in the second-round match which lasted for 35 minutes.

New Delhi: India shuttler Saina Nehwal on Thursday bowed out of the ongoing Indian Open 2022 here at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi.

Malvika Bansod defeated Nehwal 21-17, 21-9 in the second-round match which lasted for 35 minutes.

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The 31-year-old Nehwal was trailing 5-7 in the first game, and Malvika was in no mood to let this advantage and she ended up winning the first game 21-17.

Bansod then did not look back, and she continued with her momentum, winning the match inside 35 minutes.

Earlier in the day, PV Sindhu progressed to the next round of the ongoing competition. In an all-Indian affair, Sindhu outclassed Ira Sharma 21-10, 21-10 to progress to the next round.

Sindhu was at her dominant self in the first game and she wrapped up the game inside 13 minutes. Continuing from where she left off, the 26-year-old took full advantage of her momentum and ended up winning the match within 30 minutes.

Earlier, Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Thursday confirmed that seven players have been withdrawn from the ongoing India Open 2022 after testing positive for COVID-19.

“The players returned a positive result to a mandatory RT-PCR test conducted on Tuesday. Doubles partners deemed close contact of the seven players have also been withdrawn from the tournament,” BWF said in a statement.

The seven players to test positive for COVID-19 were all Indians and they were — Kidambi Srikanth, Ashwini Ponnappa, Ritika Rahul Thakar, Treesa Jolly, Mithun Manjunath, Simran Aman Singhi, and Khushi Gupta.