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Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Hong Kong Super Series, losing to former world No 1 Wang Lin of China in the second round on Thursday.
The third-seeded Indian failed to match Wang, currently ranked 61, with her smashes and went down 19-21, 15-21 in 37 minutes.
The Indian ace, who returned to the court after skipping the China Masters last week because of a knee problem, was not her usual self. She had just five smash winners against 10 by the Chinese.
Wang, the 2010 World champion who holds a 3-2 record against Saina, drew the Indian close to the net and then used her smashes to good effect.
In the first game, Wang surged to a 4-1 lead but Saina drew abreast at 6-6 and held the lead for 10 more points before the Chinese surpassed her at the fag end.
In the second, Wang did not allow Saina any chance. She raced to 6-1 and then maintained the lead.
In the men's singles, it was a sad end to Parupalli Kashyap's campaign. He retired hurt at 6-11 midway through the first game against Indonesian Tommy Sugiarto.
Kashyap had stunned world No 10 Jan Jorgensen of Denmark in the first round.
Among other Indians, Ashwini Ponnappa and Pradnya Gadre suffered a 17-21 18-21 defeat to Thailand's Duanganong Aroonkesorn and Kunchala Voravichitchaikul in the women's doubles competition.
In mixed doubles, the top seeded Chinese pair of Chen Xu and Jin Ma ended the journey of India's Pranaav Chopra and Siki Reddy, winning 21-16, 21-10.