Ace shuttlers, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, had a disappointing start to their campaign at the BWF Super Series Finals with straight-game defeats on the opening day of the prestigious event here
Ace shuttlers, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, had a disappointing start to their campaign at the BWF Super Series Finals with straight-game defeats on the opening day of the prestigious event here on Wednesday.
World no. 2 Saina seemed to struggle with her ankle injury as she went down 14-21, 6-21 to Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in a women’s singles match which lasted 35 minutes.
The World Championship silver medallist plays world no. 1 Carolina Marin in another Group A match on Thursday.
World no. 9 Kidambi Srikanth, who reached the final of the Indonesia Masters Grand Prix Gold last week, suffered a 13-21, 13-21 loss to Japan’s Kento Momota in a Group B match at the Hamdan Sports Complex.
The 22-year-old next faces Viktor Axelsen of Denmark on Thursday. Saina, who came into the match with a 4-0 head-to-head record against Okuhara, with two of this wins coming this year at the Asian Championship and the China Open, could not play her best game as her ankle injury restricted her on-court movement.
Okuhara took a 5-1 lead but Saina soon engaged her rival on long rallies using her tosses and drops and also judged the shuttle well in this conditions to claw back at 8-8.
The Indian grabbed the lead when Okuhara hit wide but she caught Saina at the forecourt and then with a smash moved into the interval with a slender 11-10 lead.
Saina stumbled on a few unforced errors after the break which allowed Okuhara to lead 17-12. Saina grabbed two points before a net error and cross court drop at the left took the Japanese to game point. She pocketed the game when Saina hit long again.
In the men's singles match, Srikanth looked a pale shadow of himself, while Momota produced a controlled aggressive game and fortified his defence to dominate the match completely.
