Birmingham, March 6 (IANS) Indian star P.V. Sindhu crashed out of the All England Open badminton championships following a hard fought defeat to Sung Ji-Hyun of South Korea in the first round of the women's singles category, here on Wednesday.

Sindhu gave a tough fight before going down 16-21, 22-20, 18-21.

B. Sai Praneeth, however, advanced to the second round of the men's singles competition with a 21-19, 21-19 victory over compatriot H.S. Prannoy.

--IANS ajb/pcj