Saina Nehwal survived some anxious moments before rallying back from a one-game deficit to beat sixth seed He Bingjiao in three games and reached her second successive Indonesia Masters BWF World Tour Super 500 final in Jakarta on Saturday.
The eighth seeded Indian, who had lost the final last year against world number one Tai Tzu Ying, twice allowed Bingjiao to make a comeback in the match but banked on her experience to pull off a 18-21, 21-12, 21-18 in 58 minutes.
She will now face world champion Carolina Marin of Spain, who defeated China’s Chen Yufei 17-21, 21-11, 23-21.
The Spaniard, who had beaten Nehwal in the semifinals of the Malaysia Masters last week, was given a scare by the young Chinese opponent as she saved five match points from 15-20 and Marin needed two more opportunities before she could seal the final spot.
Earlier, Nehwal, who was facing Bingjiao for the first time on tour, began tentatively in the semifinal but soon gained control of the rallies as she anticipated her opponent’s strokes rather well. The 28-year-old stuck to a game plan of pushing the Chinese on the backhand to take a 11-7 lead at the mid-game interval and it looked like she would race through the game when she opened up a 16-10 lead.
But this is where the tide changed as Nehwal was guilty of wrong shot selection, opting for a safety first approach and allowed Bingjiao to stage a comeback. The Chinese shuttler won five straight points to close the gap. With the pressure building, the Indian wasn’t able to execute her game plan and lost 11 of the last 13 points to lose the game.
The second game began on a similar note with Bingjiao winning the first two points but the Chinese was guilty of making far too many unforced errors on her overhead strokes this time around to hand Nehwal a healthy lead; she won 11 of the next 12 points to go up 11-3.
Bingjiao did fight back after the break, winning four straight points to close the gap at 11-7 but the experienced Nehwal knew that all she had to do was to keep the shuttle in play when her opponent was erratic. And a cross court net dribble and two cross court smashes were the icing on the cake as the eighth seed pocketed the game in just 15 minutes to force the third game.
The decider was again a topsy-turvy affair with Nehwal drawing first blood as she opened up a 10-6 lead with a down the line smash to Bingjiao’s left. But the Chinese made the most of the break to mop the court at that point to win the next five points to take the lead, just like she did in the first game.
P Kashyap, who was sitting in the coach’s chair for the match, instructed Nehwal to play slightly faster as the Chinese was clearly making more errors when the tempo of the rallies increased.
The turning point of the match probably came when Nehwal showed brilliant defensive skills to keep the shuttle in play and forced Bingjiao into making an error on a cross court drop at 14-15.
She finally took the lead three points later with a down-the-line smash, let out a roar and then clinched two more points to open up a 19-17 lead. The Indian ensured that there were no last minute hiccups as she pocketed the last two points with her trademark smashes to maintain her brilliant start to the new year.
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!