Saina Nehwal crashes out of All England Open Badminton Championships Round 1

File photo (PTI)

India ace Saina Nehwal crashed out of the All England Open Badminton Championships after losing to world number one and defending champion Chinese Taipei's Tzu Ying Tai in the first round. 

Fourth seed Nehwal was no match for her opponent and lost in straight sets 21-14 and 21-18. 

Tzu Ying Tai was overwhelming favourites heading into the match and she lived up to her billing, dismissing the Indian player without much fuss.

She also improved her head-to-head record against Nehwal, winning 10 games against losing five. It was her eighth straight win against the Indian star.

Nehwal's best effort in the history of the tournament came in 2015 when he lost to Carolina Marin in the final.  

In a big upset on Wednesday, Canada’s Michelle Li sent 2017 runner-up Ratchanok Intanon packing.

“I feel pretty good and I feel like I played pretty well,” the World No.17 told the tournament's official website after her win. “I was able to keep my nerves in control this time so I’m very happy.

“I played Ratchanok many times last year and I’ve never won a game off her so I think I was well prepared and I was just very focused and tried not to rush – I think that really helped.

“I think before I was just nervous to play her because she’s very well-known, she’s very talented and I was scared.

“This time I went in with a different mentality, just to have more confidence in myself and see how that goes.”