Saina Nehwal has been crashed out with an opening-round loss of the Japan Open Super Series badminton tournament.
It was a disappointing return made by Saina to the court in Tokyo on Wednesday.
However, P Kashyap kept the Indian hopes alive by advancing to the pre-quarterfinals of the tournament.
The only Indian contender in the men's singles, Kashyap kept the tricolour fluttering and notched up a 21-17 12-21 21-11 win over Japanese Takuma Ueda in a 51-minute battle.
World numb! er 34 Kashyap will next take on number three Dane Peter Hoeg Gade in the pre-quarterfinals on Thursday.
However, Saina, coming back after a month-long break, lost 15-21 23-21 14-21 to world number 10 Yanjiao Jiang of China in a 53-minute clash in the women's singles.
The seventh seeded Indian mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju also hit a low after their Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold win last month and crashed out of the tournament with an 18-21 12-21 against Thai combo of Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thungthongkam.
Jwala had more disappointment in store as she and her Ashwini Ponnappa were beaten 15-21 21-19 18-21 against seventh seed Japanese combo of Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna in the women's doubles opener that lasted more than one hour.
