Saina disappoints

It was disheartening to see shuttler Saina Nehwal’s inability to defend her women’s singles title as she suffered a straight-game defeat to Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the final of China Open Super Series. Right from the beginning Saina was no match to fast-paced Xuerui, who defeated Saina for the tenth time. Saina failed to create the pressure which could have wilted Li and struggled with a few strokes. Saina’s litany of unforced errors took the game away from her as she faltered with a straight set defeat of 12-21 15-21.

Mahua Singh Via email