KUALA LUMPUR: A sprained left ankle denied Malaysia's K. Sehveetrraa a chance to record an upset against world No. 57 Marta Dominguez of Spain in the women's first round of the US$64,000 Ace Malaysia Cup at the Curve Mall in Selangor today.
World No. 71 Sehveetrraa held match point at 12-11 in the fifth game when she sustained the injury and had to receive treatment.
However, she lost momentum when play resumed and fell short with a 16-14 loss in the final game.
Marta won 11-13, 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 16-14 in a hard-fought battle.
The 19-year-old Sehveetrraa, who claimed the PSNS President's Trophy in June, lamented the missed opportunity.
"I started off well by winning the first two games, and I should have won the match," she said.
"But I made some errors starting from the third game, and the ankle injury in the fifth game affected my performance. It was just not my day."
Meanwhile, Sanjay Jeeva also fell in the men's first round, losing 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 to India's Abhay Singh, joining seven other Malaysians as first-round casualties.
Ainaa Amani was the only Malaysian victor of the day, overcoming compatriot Yasshmita Jadish Kumar 11-8, 11-1, 11-8 in the women's first round.
Results
(Malaysia unless stated)
Men's first rd: Aly Hussein (Egy) bt Leung Chi Hin Henry (Hkg) 11-8, 4-11, 11-7, 11-5; Tsz Kwan La (Hkg) bt Ibrahim Elkabani (Egy) 11-3, 11-3, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7; Ryunosuke Tsukue (Jpn) bt Ben Smith (Eng) 8-11, 11-4, 11-9, 11-2; Yahya Elnawasany (Egy) bt Muhammad Asim Khan (Pak) 11-9, 11-8, 11-4; Velavan Senthilkumar (Ind) bt C. Ameeshenraj 11-3, Shahjahan Khan (US) bt Syafiq Kamal 7-11, 11-2, 6-11, 12-10, 11-7; Rui Soares (Por) by Addeen Adrakie 11-5, 11-8, 9-11, 11-4; Abhay Singh (Ind) bt Sanjay Jeeva 11-8, 11-5, 11-6.
Women's first rd: Sarah Cardwell (Aus) bt Tsz Wing Tong (Hkg) 11-8, 11-8, 11-9; Cheng Nga Ching (Hkg) bt Chen Yu Jie (Mas) 13-11, 11-9, 11-8; Cristina Gomez (Spn) bt Nour Megahad (Egy) 9-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-4, 11-9; Nour Heikal (Egy) bt Akanksha Salunkhe (Ind) 11-9, 11-7, 16-18, 9-11, 11-6; Ainaa Amani by Yasshmita Jadish Kumar 11-8, 11-1, 11-8; Ka Yi Lee (Hkg) bt Goh Zhi Xuan 11-7, 11-4, 11-6; Jessica Turnbull (Aus) bt Nadia Pfister (Sui) 11-5, 11-7, 11-7; Marta Dominguez (Spa) bt K.Sehveetrraa 11-13, 7-11, 11-6, 11-4, 16-14.