Malaysia Open: Semis setback for Saina Nehwal

Saina Nehwal returns to Taiwan’s Tai Tzu Ying in their Malaysia Open semi-final in Shah Alam on Saturday. Tai won 21-19, 21-13. (Photo: AFP )

Saina Nehwal’s semi-final jinx continued as she lost yet again to her nemesis Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the women’s singles to draw the curtains on India’s challenge at the Malaysia Super Series on Saturday.

Olympic bronze medallist Saina, who has lost to the World no. 9 Tai Tzu seven times in 12 meetings, including an All England quarter-final loss last month, once again went down 19-21. 13-21.

This was Saina’s third successive loss in the semi-finals after the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold and India Open Super Series. The world no. 8 Indian will next play at the Singapore Open starting from April 12th at Singapore City.

Tai came up with a deceptive gameplan and engaged in some fierce fast-paced rallies with Saina. The Indian, who recently recovered from a nagging ankle injury, was erratic and wasn’t consistent enough to close out the rallies.