New Delhi: Indian challenge ended in the
French Super Series badminton tournament after Saina Nehwal
and the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju crashed
out with respective quarterfinal defeats in Paris.
Eighth seed Saina squandered a first-game lead to go down
to top seed Chinese Wang Lin 21-15 11-21 15-21 in a 49-minute
hard fought battle in women's singles yesterday.
The sixth seeded Indian pair of Jwala and Diju also
played their heart out before going down to the Indonesian
combo of Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir 21-6 20-22 10-21 in
42 minutes.
Saina played better at the nets but she couldn't
negotiate the powerful smashes of her opponent, who scored 14
points compared to the Indian's nine.
In the first game, Saina opened a 5-0 lead and pushed Lin
to the back foot who was left to do the catch up act till the
end.
However, the Chinese bounced back in the second game and
first opened a 3-0 lead and then widened it from 3-2 to 10-2
before pocketing the game.
In the decider, the Hyderabadi failed to raise her game
and after being tied 2-2, Lin moved ahead as Saina's game
crumbled.
Bureau Report
First Published: Saturday, October 31, 2009, 14:07