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Lucknow: India’s Pratul Joshi on Wednesday created a flutter when the 18-year-old stunned the top seed and former Olympic champion Taufiq Hidayat in the first round men’s singles competition of the Syed Modi International India Open Grand Prix Gold, here, on Wednesday.
Joshi was in belligerent form as he did not drop his speed at any stage and emerged victorious against the Indonesian 21-17 21-12 in 30 minutes in the $120,000 Gold Championship.
However, Joshi’s joy in the morning session proved short-lived in the post-lunch session as he lost the next round 18-21 21-16 20-22 to Hidayat’s compatriot, the other Indonesian Siswanto.
Though, overall, the boy from Dhar (Madhya Pradesh) hogged the limelight on the opening day with his giant-killing efforts and gutsy display before crashing out.
Meanwhile, Saina Nehwal conceded her first round match to Russia’s Ksemia Polikarpova, citing injury and fatigue.
Saina, who had won the first game 21-17 and was leading 20-18 in the second, failed to continue further and gave a walk-over to her opponent.
Saina later said she had some problem in the knee, which aggravated during the match.
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