Saina Nehwal loses to Carolina Marin in semi-final of Malaysia Masters

Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal on Saturday crashed out of the Malaysia Masters 2019 after losing 16-21, 13-21 to Carolina Marin of Spain in the women's singles semifinals at the Axiata Arena, Kuala Lumpur. 

Nehwal was dominated by the three-time world champion Carolina throughout the 40-minute contest.

The former World No1 entered the semi-final after scripting a straight-game win over Japan's Nozomi Okuhara. 

Seventh-seeded Saina, who had 8-4 head-to-head record against Okuhara before Friday, fought back from 9-15 and 14-18 down in the two games to extend her dominance over the second-seeded Japanese with a 21-18 23-21 win in a 48-minute quarterfinal.

Meanwhile, India's male shuttler Kidambi Srikanth suffered an exit from the USD 350,000 event. Srikanth squandered a one-game advantage to go down 23-21 16-21 17-21 to fourth seed Korean Son Wan Ho in the men's singles quarterfinals that lasted an hour and 12 minutes.