Lucknow: Women’s singles No. 1 seed P.V. Sindhu of India needed only 21 minutes to dispatch compatriot Anura Prabhudesai by winning 21-9, 21-11 in first round of the USD 120,000 Syed Modi International Grand Prix that is being held at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium in Lucknow on Wednesday.
The No. 1 seed will play teammate Lalita Dahiya in the second round.
On the other hand, last week’s Malaysia Masters women’s singles champion and former World No. 1 women’s singles player Saina Nehwal has decided to withdraw from the Grand Prix Gold Badminton Championship at last minute.
Nehwal has reportedly wanted to take a short break to continue the rehabilitation on her knee injury.
“Saina is not playing for the event as she needs more rest,” a confirmation from the organizer.
Nehwal is expected to play in the German Open Grand Prix that will be held from Feb 28 to March 5 before participating in this year’s All England.
“I need to be careful as I just recovered from a major injury. I can’t push my knee too much with back-to-back tournaments and risk getting injured again,” Nehwal was quoted on her withdrawal.
