NEW DELHI: Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu's dismal run continued as she made a shocking first round exit from the All England Championships after losing to Zhang Yi Man of China in straight games in Birmingham on Wednesday.
Sindhu, World No. 9, gave some fight before losing 17-21, 11-21 in the 39-minute women's singles contest.
Sindhu was little laid back throughout the match while her world number 17 opponent showed more agility and attacking intent.
This is the third time double Olympic medallist Sindhu has lost her first round match this year.
She had lost to Carolina Marin of Spain in Malaysia Open in January before exiting the Indian Open at the same stage in the same month.
She had recently parted ways with her coach Park Tae-sang of Korea, under whose guidance she won a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.
There was not much to differentiate initially between the two who had 1-1 head-to-head record before Wednesday's match.
Sindhu led 6-5 and then made it 16-13. But the Chinese shuttler won seven straight points to lead 20-16 before taking the first game in 21 minutes.
In the second game, the two players were tied 5-5 but Sindhu committed a few unforced errors and was soon down 5-10.
Sindhu recovered a bit to trail 7-11 but was soon down 9-16 before losing the second game and the match.
Earlier during the day, India's women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela stunned seventh seeded Thailand duo of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai 21-18 21-14 in a 46-minute first round match.
The Indian duo will meet the Japanese pair of Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota in the pre-quarterfinals.
On Tuesday, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy had won their respective men's singles first round matches.
(With inputs from PTI)
