Bangkok: India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Thailand Masters Super 300 tournament after losing in the first round to Denmark's Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt in Bangkok on Wednesday.
Nehwal produced a disappointing show against a weaker opponent as she suffered a 13-21, 21-17, 15-21 loss. Prior to this tie, Nehwal had never lost to the Danish opponent in previous four meetings.
With Saina's loss, all four shuttlers participating in the competition bowed out after facing defeats in their respective first-round matches on Wednesday.
In men's singles, Kidambi Srikanth, Sameer Verma and H.S. Prannoy faced crushing defeats in their opening rounds, while Saina Nehwal, India's lone contender in women's singles, also failed to advance in the $ 170,000 tournament.
Earlier in the day, HS Prannoy also crashed out of the tournament. Pranoy was outclassed by Malaysia's Liew Daren 21-17, 20-22, 21-19 in 68 minutes.
Another Indian top male shuttler Kidambi Srikanth also suffered an early exit from the tournament after losing to Indonesia's Shesar Hiren Rhustavito 21-12, 14-21, 11-21 in men's singles.
Kidambi, the fifth-seeded player, lost in 48 minutes to make his third straight first-round exit of the year. These losses have further dented Nehwal and Srikanth's hopes of making it to the Tokyo Olympics.
Sameer Verma also bowed out of the competition after losing 16-21, 15-21 to Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia in just 38 minutes.
Saina and Srikanth are placed at the 18th and 14th spots respectively in the world rankings.
As per BWF Olympics qualification regulations, just a couple of shuttlers each from the singles category could qualify if their ranking lies below the top-16 until April 26. There are only seven tournaments left in the calender and the Indian duo will have to produce consistent performances to earn a ticket to Tokyo.
