Indian badminton star Saina Nehwal crashes out in the ongoing 2016 BWF Macau Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament after losing to Zhang Yiman of China in two straight sets in their quarterfinal duel on Friday at the Tap Seac Multisports Pavilion in Macau, China.

According to the match result in the official website of the BWF, Newhal, who entered the USD 120,000 badminton event as the top seeded player of the draw, suffered a shocking 21-12, 21-17 straight-game defeat to a younger and much lower-ranked Zhang, who currently ranks no. 226 in the world. The 19-year-old Chinese shuttler stunned the incumbent world no. 10 Indian badminton ace after consuming just 35 minutes to earn her ticket for the semifinal round of the competition.

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After claiming her first and only title of the season in this year's XiamenAir Australian Badminton Open last June, the 26-year-old Nehwal has been struggling to find her winning form back. Her losing skid continues following her unwelcomed injury suffered during the Rio Olympic Games last August.

Basing from the report of the Hindustan Times, the 2012 London Games bronze medalist underwent a knee surgery three months ago. Nehwal is yet to go past the last-eight round of a tournament since her recovery from the said injury.

This November, she failed to reach the semifinal stage of the Hong Kong Open just last week after losing to Chinese Cheung Ngan Yi in their quarterfinal clash. Nehwal also suffered shocking first-round elimination in the China Open in the hands of Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand in the city of Fuzhou.

With the recent unsuccessful campaigns in the tournaments that she took part, Newhal's chances of landing a spot in the upcoming season-ending USD 1 million World Superseries Finals in Dubai this coming December came to an end. She currently ranks ninth in the Destination Dubai Rankings where only the top eight badminton players are allowed to participate in the said prestigious BWF event.

Tagssaina nehwal, zhang yiman, bwf rankings, bwf, macau open, BWF World Superseries