All England: Ashwini-Sikki bow out in straight-game loss

Indian women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy bowed out of the All England Championship after a straight-game loss in the second round of the competition.

India's Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy lost 13-21, 14-21 to seventh seed Japanese combination of Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi. (File photo)

Indian women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy bowed out of the All England Championship after suffering a straight-game loss in the second round of the competition, here.

World no. 29 Ashwini and Sikki lost 13-21, 14-21 to seventh seed Japanese combination of Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi in a match that lasted 38 minutes on Thursday night.

For Ashwini and Sikki, it was their eighth successive defeat against the Japanese combination.

World Champion P. V.  Sindhu is now the lone Indian remaining in the fray. She will face fourth seed Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in the quarterfinals.