India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal crashed out of the China Open after she lost to Cai Yan Yan in the first round in Fuzhou, China on Wednesday. Nehwal didn't look conformable during the match as she troubled to score consecutive points throughout the match. She eventually lost the match 9-21, 12-21 in straight games. The World No.9 Saina lost in the women's singles clash that lasted just 24 minutes to make an early exit from the USD 700,000 tournament.
However, in men's singles, Saina's husband and personal coach Parupalli Kashyap registered a comfortable straight-game victory over Thailand's Sitthikom Thammasin.
The Indian outsmarted his Thai opponent 21-14 21-3 in 43 minutes. He will face seventh seed Victor Axelson of Denmark in the second round.
The mixed doubles pair of Pranav Jerry Chopra and Sikki Reddy also made a first-round exit.
The duo went down 14-21 14-21 to Wang Chi-Lin and Cheng Chi Ya of Chinese Taipei.
The 29-year-old Saina has been going through a tough phase with regards to her fitness since claiming the Indonesia Masters in January.
She made three consecutive first-round exits before reaching the quarterfinal of the French Open last month.
World champion PV Sindhu was also knocked out from the same tournament in the opening round on Tuesday. PV Sindhu was knocked out of China Open after losing to Chinese Taipei's Pai Yu Po.
After her World Championships gold medal, Sindhu has failed to reach the final in five straight tournaments (including China Open).