Ace Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal exited the Malaysia Open Superseries after suffering shock first round defeats in the women's singles event on Wednesday. Sindhu, who only recently beat Spain's Carolina Marin in the final to be crowned India Open 2017 Superseries, lost 21-18, 19-21, 17-21 to unseeded Chen Yufei of China at the Stadium Perpaduan. London Games bronze-winner Saina lost to Japan's Akane Yamaguchi, seeded fourth, 21-19, 13-21, 15-21 in a match that lasted 56 minutes.
Meanwhile, it took Chen one hour and eight minutes to get the better of the sixth-seeded Sindhu.
However, there was some news for the Indian contingent in Malaysia as Ajay Jayaram defeated Chinese Qiao Bin in straight games 21-11, 21-8, needing barely 31 minutes to complete a comfortable win in the men's singles opening round match.
The men's doubles combo of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy lost to Chinese Taipei's Liao Kuan Hao and Lu Chia Pin 21-18, 18-21, 17-21.
(With PTI Inputs)