Saina Nehwal knocked out of All England Badminton Championship

Birmingham: Saina Nehwal India’s badminton star has been knocked out of All England Badminton Championship in the quarter-finals after World Number 1 Tai Tzu Ying defeated her by 15-21, 19-21 here on Friday.

The match was 19-19 in the 2nd game but then Tai Tzu Ying hit two brilliant smashes to take the game and match.

Meanwhile, Kidambi Srikanth won the second round by beating French Brice Leverdez 21-13, 21-11 on Wednesday.

Earlier, PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy’s was knocked out in the first round of the championship.

Nehwal has now lost 12 straight matches to Tai since 2015. The Indian Shuttler has struggled to tackle the guile and deception of her 24-year-old opponent who can play an array of strokes ranging from the flicks, sharp cross drops, down the line smashes and even the late net dribbles.