Saina Nehwal’s dream of defending her women’s singles title came crashing as she suffered a straight-game defeat to Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the final of the $700,000 China Open Super Series Prem
Saina Nehwal’s dream of defending her women’s singles title came crashing as she suffered a straight-game defeat to Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the final of the $700,000 China Open Super Series Premier in Fuzhou on Sunday.
The Olympic bronze medallist Saina committed a litany of unforced errors to go down 12-21, 15-21 against world no. 7 Li in the women’s singles summit clash that lasted for 39 minutes at the Haixia Olympic Sports Center.
Up against an opponent against whom she has lost nine times in the past, Saina failed to create the pressure which could have wilted Li, who showed better understanding of the Indian’s game to outdo her for the 10th time.
“I started well, but I wasn’t able to connect the shuttle, it was very strange,” Saina said after her loss. “Many of my shots went out, and she was anticipating everything. I think I was in a hurry to finish off points. She was catching my pace very well, and she was able to pick out my shots at the net. I should’ve been more patient.”
In the men’s final, Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei overcame Chinese top seed Cheng Long 21-15, 21-11 to lift the winner’s crown. This was Lee’s second Superseries title of the season after serving out an eight-month doping ban earlier this year.
Saina zoomed to a 4-1 lead early on but she committed too many unforced errors after that for Li to move ahead. Saina, however, struggled with a few strokes going wide and also left gaps on her left which the Chinese exploited to wrest a 7-4 lead
Leading 11-6 at the break, Li continued her march after the interval even as the Indian kept breathing down her neck with some occasional points. Some immaculate saves cupled with Saina’s wide hits was enough for the Chinese to take the first game.
In the second, Li and Saina engaged in engrossing rallies and thanks to a couple of unforced errors by the Chinese, Saina led 11-6 at the interval.
However, Li came up with sharp smashes and drops to reel off seven points to make it 13-12 in her favour.Thereafter, the Indian failed to give the finishing touch to the rallies and also went wide and long too often to help Li eventually grab a 19-15 lead and the match.
