Live Malaysia Superseries Premier, badminton scores and updates: Sai Praneeth goes down to Lin Dan, Sindhu also exits

Another close encounter for the Indians goes in vain. Pranaav Chopra and Sikki Reddy lose a thriller. Tough luck, guys! #MalaysiaSSP

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) April 5, 2017

Pranaav Chopra/ Sikki Reddy lose to Astrup/ Kjaersfeldt 19-21, 21-19, 21-23 in mixed doubles.

.@saiprneeth92 can be proud of his effort against 2-time Olympic Champion Lin Dan. Hard luck indeed! #MalaysiaSSP

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) April 5, 2017

Lin Dan beats B Sai Praneeth 18-21, 21-19, 21-18 in men’s singles. 

Pranaav Chopra/ N Sikki Reddy come back to win the second game against Kim Astrup/ Line Kjaersfeldt 19-21 after losing the first game 19-21 in mixed doubles

Sai Praneeth trailing 14-17 in the third game against Lin Dan. 

Pranaav and Sikki trail 10-11 against the Danish pair at the break of the second game. #MalaysiaSSP

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) April 5, 2017

Lin Dan shows his class. Takes the second game 21-19. It’s all down to the final game now.

A ray of hope from the Malaysia Open at last! B Sai Praneeth wins the first game against Lin Dan 21-18 in the men’s singles.

The lone Indian to win has been Ajay Jayaram who beat China’s Qiao Bin 21-11, 21-8. Later in the evening, Sai Praneeth takes on 2-time Olympic champion and 5-time world champion, badminton’s super-star Lin Dan.

A loss in the 1st round would be shocking for Sindhu fans. The Olympic silver medallist had played a 2-game final against World Champion Carolina Marin and won. But the emotional quotient of that victory was more taxing than the physicality involved in that match.

That’s a shock! Was it tiredness, fatigue or simply winning a Super Series and not ready mentally and emotionally for another one within 48 hours? Lin Dan had raised the question at the All England of having gaps between Super Series so that players could rest and travel. Nobody would ever put up fatigue as an excuse from Sindhu’s camp but as rankings rise, so does pressure of winning. That’s probably one reason also that Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei also skipped the India Super Series to be fit for the Malaysian Super Series which also is a premier event.

PV Sindhu loses in the opening round of #MalaysiaSSP after a fighting effort against Chen Yufei.

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) April 5, 2017

UPSET! PV Sindhu loses to Chen Yufei 21-18, 19-21, 17-21 and crashes out of Malaysia Superseries Premier

What a shock! Both Sindhu and Saina are out of the tournament. But credit must go to the young Chinese player for playing some great badminton

14-17! Sindhu trailing. Chen Yufei has managed to maintain the lead in the decider#MalaysiaSSP

LIVE: https://t.co/9UPuS8E8vE

— Firstpost Sports (@FirstpostSports) April 5, 2017

Sindhu is the 6th seed to the unseeded Chinese Chen Yufei and a defeat here for the Olympic silver medallist will be a big blow to the Malaysian Open SuperSeries. Even in their previous encounter at the Macau Open in 2015, both had played three-games which Sindhu had won 21-13, 18-21, 21-14. Can she prevail once again?

9-14! Sindhu is struggling against Chen Yufei in the third game. The game is slipping away from the India Open champions and she needs to get back to her best sooner rather than later

Final game starts! Sindhu trails 6-7 against Chen Yufei. Will Sindhu’s class prevail or are we in for a shock?

PV Sindhu loses second game 21-19

Chen Yufei has made a game out of this. Great performance from the Chinese!

12-11! It's neck and neck in the second game and Sindhu has a slender lead#MalaysiaSSP

LIVE: https://t.co/9UPuS8E8vE

— Firstpost Sports (@FirstpostSports) April 5, 2017

.@Pvsindhu1 takes the opening game 21-18 against Chen Yufei. Off to a fantastic start! #MalaysiaSSP

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) April 5, 2017

PV Sindhu wins opening game against Chen Yufei

PV Sindhu overturned a scratchy start to win the opening game 21-18 against her Chinese opponent who has shown great fight in this game

Meanwhile, the India Open winner Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen is on a roll winning his first game 21-12 and leading 12-7 in the second against Malaysia’s Daren Liew.

PV SIndhu is in action against China’s Chen Yufei

Sindhu made a shaky start but has regained her touch. She leads 11-10 in the opening game.

Even though Akane Yamaguchi is seeded 4th and ranked number 2 in the world, Saina’s loss is shocking. The former World No.1 is on a comeback trail after her knee surgery and wins against tough opponents would have given her the much needed match practice.

Saina Nehwal's valiant effort goes in vain as Akane Yamaguchi triumphs in a hard-fought 3-game thriller. Tough luck! #MalaysiaSSP

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) April 5, 2017

Saina Nehwal bows out of Malaysia Superseries Premier

Saina Nehwal loses to Akane Yamaguchi 19-21 21-13 21-15 in 56 minutes. The match seemed firmly in her grasp when she was leading 11-8 in the second game, but the Indian had no answers to the fierce fightback from the Japanese

11-9! Saina trails Yamaguchi by two points in third and deciding game. She need to do what the Japanese did to her in the second game

Manu Atri and Sumeeth Reddy lose the deciding game to end their #MalaysiaSSP campaign in the first round. Tough luck!

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) April 5, 2017

Saina Nehwal loses second game against Akane Yamaguchi

Despite leading by three points at the interval in the second game, Saina Nehwal has ended up losing it. The Japanese came back hard in second game and sucked Saina’s momentum. Time for Saina now to do the same

Sumeeth/Attri have lost the 3rd game 17-21. Scores: 18-21, 21-18, 21-17

12-17! Saina has lost all the momentum and Yamaguchi has forced her way back into the contest. She holds a healthy five-point lead in the second game and looks good to win it. Can Saina make a comeback in the second game?

Saina Nehwal takes a 11-8 lead at the interval in the second game against Akane Yamaguchi

Sumeeth and Attri have lost the 2nd game 18-21.

Saina Nehwal wins opening game against Akane Yamaguchi, leads in second

Saina Nehwal has won the opening game against Akane Yamaguchi 21-18 and leads 6-3 in the second game. The Indian keeps getting better and better with every passing day. Not long before she is back to her absolute best

Sumeeth and Attri have won the first game 21-18.

Men’s doubles of Sumeeth Reddy and Manu Attri is on…They lead 13-12 in the 1st game.

Top performance from Ajay Jayaram! 

.@ajay_289 beats China’s Qian Bin in two straight games 21-11 21-8 to advance in the next round of #MalaysiaSSP

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) April 5, 2017

AJAY JAYARAM WINS!

Ajay beat Qiao Bin of China 21-11, 21-8 in 31 minutes. Ajay now moves into the round of 16.  

Ajay Jayaram in action against Qiao Bin

The Indian has made a great start to the opening game and leads 14-6 against the Chinese. Jayaram has often failed to sustain the intensity in his play , can he do it this time?

Ajay Jayaram in action against Qiao Bin

The Indian has made a great start to the opening game and leads 14-6 against the Chinese. Jayaram has often failed to sustain the intensity in his play , can he do it this time?

MAJOR RESULTS SO FAR:

Sung Ji Hyun beats Minatsu Mitani 21-18, 21-15

Chris Adcock and Gabriel Adcock beat Lin Chia Yu and Wu Ti Jung 21-16, 21-15

Carolina Marin beats Yip Pui Yin 21-16, 21-11

Lou Ying and Lou Yu beat Joyce Choong and Jing Yi Tee 21-14, 21-18

Hello and welcome to the Live coverage of the Malaysia Superseries Premier where a host of Indian players including PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will be in first round action today. Stick around for all the action from the Malaysia Open