India's top badminton player Saina Nehwal on Saturday suffered a narrow loss to Olympic Champion Li Xuerui in the semi-final of the India Open Super Series badminton tournament in New Delhi, reported PTI. The 26-year-old lost 20-22 21-17 19-21 to Xuerui in the Women's Singles competition, drawing curtains on Indian challenge at the Siri Fort Complex.
Though Nehwal matched up to Xuerui in the fast-paced rallies, she was not consistent in finishing them. Xuerui, on the other hand, blew hot and cold as some of her cross-court half-smashes caught Nehwal off-guard. However, the latter also faltered with many strokes.
Nehwal opened up a 8-5 lead early on and managed to stave off the challenge from Xuerui till 11-9. But the latter soon managed to draw parity with two quick points and then turned the tables, reaching 16-13. The former World no.1 in Women's Singles roared back to level with a superb drop from the back court before Xuerui found the net. As she hit wide again, both were tied at 18-18 till Nehwal was leading 19-18 after another miscued smash. Following this, an energy-sapping rally ended with a return, which Nehwal didn't even try. However, she ensured she has the first shot to take advantage as she reached the game point with a smash that Xuerui could only send to the net. Xuerui then produced a deceptive slice and with Nehwal hitting wide and then leaving another shot from her on the right, it was all over.
Even in the second game, Nehwal zoomed to a 7-1 lead with Xuerui committing too many unforced errors, and the former led 11-6 at the interval. Nehwal produced a couple of accurate down the line smashes even as the winner continued to struggle with her strokes, till she, all of a sudden, gathered a flurry of points to narrow the gap to 14-17.
In the decider, Nehwal marched ahead to a 6-2 lead. Xuerui tried to narrow it down to 7-6 but Nehwal had her nose ahead 11-7 at the break after she engaged in a parallel game with Xuerui. After the change of sides, Nehwal continued to dominate the rallies to reach 15-11. But a couple of bad line judgement helped Xuerui to cut down the margin to 13-15. Leading 18-16, Mehwal allowed Xuerui to draw parity when she hit the net twice. A deceptive return was cancelled by a long shot before a line kissing slice gave the advantage to Xuerui , who sealed it when Nehwal failed to negotiate a return.
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!