Badminton: India bow out of 2018 Singapore Open
The Indian team, at the Singapore Open 2018, put up a dismal performance as all of them lost their matches. This comes as a shock to all badminton enthusiasts, since last year India had dominated the tournament. Notably, the 2017 Singapore Open men's final was an all-Indian affair as Sai Praneeth had defeated Srikanth to clinch the title.
India's best bet succumbs to Vietnamese opponent
Indian ace and the current national champion, Saurabh Verma, was the country's best bet at the 2018 Singapore Open. But Verma lost his pre quarter-final match against Vietnamese opponent Tien Minh Nguyen. The tie lasted for 56 minutes. The final score of 21-18, 15-21, 11-21 ensured that Indian national champion was on his way back home.
Down in both doubles matches
The gold medal winner of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy had teamed up with Ashwini Ponnappa to compete in the mixed doubles section. However, the champion duo could not make a mark against seventh-seeded Lee Chun Hei and Sayaka Takahashi of Hong Kong. They lost the match 21-14, 16-21. 21-14.
Defeats in the singles matches
Ruthvika Shivani, the 2018 Tata Open India International champion, was defeated in the second round. Her opponent was Japanese 5th seed, Sayaka Takahashi, against whom she lost 8-21, 15-21. Rituparna Das was also shown the exit door by Indonesia's Yosephin Susanto with a score-line, which read 21-15, 13-21, 16-21. Chinese Taipei's top seed Tien-chen Chou knocked out Shubhankar Dey.
India's performance in earlier editions
The Singapore Open has been a major attraction for fans since its inception in 1987. Indonesia and China have been the most dominant nations in this tournament. The 2017 edition of the tournament was India's most successful till date, where Sai Praneeth defeated his compatriot Srikanth in the men's singles final. Olympian Saina Nehwal had previously won the women's singles back in 2010.
