SAINA NEHWAL, India's lone hope in the World Badminton Championship, crashed out of the tournament despite displaying grit and determination on the court on Friday in Hyderabad. Nehwal lost to Chinese second seed Lin Wang 16-21, 19-21, after she allowed her opponent to open with a big lead in the first game of the match.

Nehwal, seeded number six, displayed far better skills in the second game and even managed a lead of 9-1 but the Chinese managed to bridge the gap and claw back. She went on to win the game and the match.

The Indian mixed doubles pair of Valiyaveetil Diju and Jwala Gutta also lost to defending champion Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia on Friday in a match that was mostly one-sided. The Indian duo were given no opening by the Indonesians, who went on to win the match 16-21,14-21 at the Balayogi Indoor stadium. Jwala later said that they faltered in their strategy and did not slow down their game in a bit to notch up points.