Saina Nehwal crashes out after losing to Carolina Marin

Kuala Lumpur, January 19: India's singles campaign in the Malaysian Masters Super 500 ended when Saina Nehwal succumbed to Carolina Marin in straight sets in the semifinals on Saturday (January 19).

Saina gave the impression of fight at some stages but never really managed to challenge Marin before going down 16-21, 13-21. The first set was closely contested till a point, and in fact it was Saina who went into a 4-1 lead in the initial part.

Saina and Marin played neck-to-neck to reach 14-14 but the Spaniard broke away from her opponent in some style. She won six points on the trot to close out the first game.

The second game was more lopsided. Marin took a 6-2 lead and never really allowed any foothold for Saina, keeping her at bay and winning the game and match with ease in the end.

Earlier, Kidambi Srikanth showed some admirable grit but could not overcome Son Wan Ho of South Korea, losing 23-21, 16-21, 17-21 to 4th seed.