Saina`s All England big boost with withdrawl of Wang, Tine

New Delhi: Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal`s bid to win the All England Championship received a big boost today with fierce rivals Wang Yihan of China and Tine Baun of Denmark pulling out of the Superseries tournament in Birmingham on Tuesday.

Two-time champion, Tine and former world number one Wang today withdrew from the bottom half of the draw, paving the way for fifth-seed Saina, who would be returning to action after a four-week break. Tine, who had suffered a heel injury three weeks ago, aggravated her pain after participating at the European team Championship in Amsterdam last month and decided to skip the All England to be fit for the Olympic qualification which begins next month. Saina, who had suffered a ligament injury at the fag end of a successful 2010, had made an unsuccessful return in the Korean Open in January this year where she was ousted in the second round by Japan`s Sayaka Sato. However, Saina, who is in the second half of the draw, will now fancy her chances of at least reaching the finals of All England -- considered the grandslam of badminton. The Commonwealth Games gold medallist will, however, face tough challenge from the Chinese shuttlers like top seed Wang Shixian, third seed Wang Xin, whom she would meet once she manages to reach the finals. Only nine days short of turning 21, Saina will take on Korean Seung Hee Bae in the first round and though she is not likely to face a tough challenge, the Indian should trade carefully considering she is short of match practice. In the men`s singles, P Kashyap will open his campaign against Marc Zwiebler of Germany in the main draw tomorrow. Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas will carry Indian flag in the men`s double, taking on Malaysian pair of Teik Chai Gan and Bin Shen Tan. Commonwealth Games gold medallist pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa will meet Dane combo of Maria Helsbol and Anne Skelbaek in their opening match. Jwala will also pair up with V Diju to fight it out against Korean pair of Yeon Seong Yoo and Min Jung Kim in the mixed doubles category. PTI