Odense: The 17-year-old Korean sensation An Se-young knocked out the world champion PV Sindhu, in the women's singles second round of the Denmark Open here on Thursday.
The Indian, seeded 5th, suffered was shocked 14-21, 17-21 by the unseeded Korean player. This is the third time that the Rio-Olympic silver medallist has failed to make it to the quarter-finals of the BWF World Tour after winning the World Championship in August.
Sindhu endured surprise first and second round exits at the China Open and Korea Open last month, respectively. World number six Sindhu, who has not won a title in the BWF World Tour this season. Earlier in the day, Sameer Verma was knocked out of the Denmark Open after losing 12-21, 10-21, to reigning Olympic champion Chen Long.
Star India shuttler Saina Nehwal had crashed out of the tournament in the 1st round itself. Saina lost to Sayaka Takahashi of Japan in straight games in their opening round meeting in Odense on Wednesday.
It was Saina Nehwal's third successive first round exit and the sixth overall this season. The 2012 champion at Denmark Open struggled to get going against unseeded Sayaka Takahashi and crashed out in just 37 minutes.
On the same day, Srikanth Kidambi also suffered a first-round defeat as he lost to local player Anders Antonsen in straight-games. Kidambi lost 14-21, 18-21 to the 4th seeded Danish player.
Srikanth was in competitive action for the 1st time since his 3rd-round exit at World Championships in August. He had pulled out of Korea Open and China Open due to a knee injury.
