<p>A profligate P V Sindhu was knocked out of the All England Championship by an industrious Sung Ji Hyun of Korea in the women’s singles opening round here.</p>.<p>In the men’s singles, 2017 Singapore Open champion B Sai Praneeth defeated compatriot HS Prannoy 21-19, 21-19 in a pulsating contest on Wednesday. </p>.<p>Fifth-seeded Sindhu, who was beaten by Sung Ji twice in the last three meetings, lost 16-21, 22-20, 18-21 despite saving as many as eight match points in the second and third game.</p>.<p>Sindhu went into the opener with an overall record of an 8-6 against Sung Ji but the Korean once again troubled the Indian in the 81-minute thrilling clash which went down the wire.</p>.<p>Sindhu showed grit in the closing moments of the second and third game but also committed too many unforced errors during the match.</p>.<p>The Indian saved three match points at 17-20 in the second game to take the match to the decider, during which she saved five match points before suffering her fourth first-round loss at the USD 1 million event.</p>.<p>Sung Ji will face Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi in the second round.</p>.<p>“I think I should have not given her big lead at the start. It was too many points and it was difficult to cover,” Sindhu said after the loss.</p>.<p>“It was my bad luck probably as my midcourt smashes were going to net. I was just hitting out but overall it was a good match and she played well.</p>.<p>“I had trained enough but it was just not my day. Such matches keep happening and I have to take it as a challenge and come back stronger.”</p>.<p>The women’s doubles pair of Meghana Jakkampudi and Poorvisha S Ram also fought hard before losing 21-18, 12-21, 12-21 to the Russian combination of Ekaterina Bolotova and Alina Daveltova.</p>
<p>A profligate P V Sindhu was knocked out of the All England Championship by an industrious Sung Ji Hyun of Korea in the women’s singles opening round here.</p>.<p>In the men’s singles, 2017 Singapore Open champion B Sai Praneeth defeated compatriot HS Prannoy 21-19, 21-19 in a pulsating contest on Wednesday. </p>.<p>Fifth-seeded Sindhu, who was beaten by Sung Ji twice in the last three meetings, lost 16-21, 22-20, 18-21 despite saving as many as eight match points in the second and third game.</p>.<p>Sindhu went into the opener with an overall record of an 8-6 against Sung Ji but the Korean once again troubled the Indian in the 81-minute thrilling clash which went down the wire.</p>.<p>Sindhu showed grit in the closing moments of the second and third game but also committed too many unforced errors during the match.</p>.<p>The Indian saved three match points at 17-20 in the second game to take the match to the decider, during which she saved five match points before suffering her fourth first-round loss at the USD 1 million event.</p>.<p>Sung Ji will face Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi in the second round.</p>.<p>“I think I should have not given her big lead at the start. It was too many points and it was difficult to cover,” Sindhu said after the loss.</p>.<p>“It was my bad luck probably as my midcourt smashes were going to net. I was just hitting out but overall it was a good match and she played well.</p>.<p>“I had trained enough but it was just not my day. Such matches keep happening and I have to take it as a challenge and come back stronger.”</p>.<p>The women’s doubles pair of Meghana Jakkampudi and Poorvisha S Ram also fought hard before losing 21-18, 12-21, 12-21 to the Russian combination of Ekaterina Bolotova and Alina Daveltova.</p>