Saina beats World no. 1 Carolina despite injury to keep semis hope alive
INDIA'S LEADING WOMEN'S SINGLES SHUTTLER and World No.2 Sania Nehwal came up with a dominating performance to outclass World No.1 Carolina Marin of Spain at the BWF Superseries Finals in Dubai on Thursday to keep her semi-finals hope alive.
It was really tough match against Carolina but really happy to win today in three sets 23-21,10-21,21-12 . pic.twitter.com/KygZGLBUwl
— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) December 10, 2015
Saina defeated the top seed 23-21, 9-21, 21-12 in the Group A match which lasted for an hour and fifteen minutes. After the win, Sania extended her dominance over the Spaniard by a 4-2 margin in the head-to-head count.
The opening game of the women's singles saw a neck-and-neck clash between the top two shuttlers. Carolina went into a healthy 7-5 lead but Saina soon engaged her rival on long rallies well to make it 14-14.
From there on, both players went on to win points one after the other to stand at 20-20. But the Indian held her nerve till the end as unforced errors from the Spaniard handed over the game to Sania.
Carolina proved why she is the No.1 player as she came back into the match with some aggressive shots to take a 15-6 lead in a few minutes to put pressure on Sania. The change of side didn't change Saina's fortune as her opponent cruised and a couple of unforced errors from the Indian helped Carolina win the game in a one-sided affair and level the match 1-1.
In the third and final game, the Indian took confidence from the first game and few words from her coach pumped her to go ahead and win in style. Sania made it 11-8 in her favour. From there on, there was no looking back for Sania as she held on to her dominance in the very game to win it 21-12 at ease and pocket the match.
With this win, the Indian keeps her semis hope alive and will next face the defending champion Tzu Ying of Taiwan in the final group match on Friday. The head-to-head count between these two are levelled at 5-5.
@NSaina you are just Awesome #SuperSaina .. Congrats.. Keep rocking !!..
— Juhil susanna.c (@juhil_susanna) December 10, 2015
@NSaina well done rockstar! !👊so proud .. yet again .. #girlpower
— Aishwaryaa.R.Dhanush (@ash_r_dhanush) December 10, 2015
@NSaina you are mind blowing buddy... Congratulations!!!!
— Madhav (@Madhav631004) December 10, 2015
Well done @NSaina 👏👏It was a fantastic win👌Keep it up👍 https://t.co/zGdanoIEIT
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) December 10, 2015
