Dubai SSF: Saina's semi-final hopes crushed after losing must win match to Ying
INDIA'S LEADING WOMEN'S SHUTTLER Saina Nehwal lost to defending champion Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei 21-16, 18-21, 14-21 in 51 minutes in the last round match at Dubai World Superseries in Dubai on Friday.
After the first game loss Saina had kept her semi-final hopes alive after beating world no. 1 and top seed Carolina Marin of Spain in round two on Thursday.
The match against Tzu Ying wasn't an encounter as victory in last three games was in favour of Ying. The head-to-head count between the two was levelled at 5-5 until this game. The Indian shuttler won the first set 21-16, though not a comfortable win but Saina managed to maintain a lead of at least two-three points throughout. Head-to-head count now increases to 6-5 in favour of Ying.
The defending champion knew she had only one chance that is in the second set to get back and she did so to win the set 21-18. The last and the final set was a nerve-wrecking one as a win for Saina would mean she qualified for the semis but Ying had something else in store.
Fighting for a win in the third set, a dominating Ying took a 6 point lead. When the scores read as 17-11 in favour of Ying, Saina with some crazy smashes got her way back to make it 14-19 as her coach and the fans backed her up.
14-20 in favour of Ying, who was one point away from win and she grabbed it without further delay and ousted Saina of the World Superseries.
The BWF player of the year award winner Carolina Marin along with Nozomi Okuhara goes ahead in the tournament and will play the semi-final tomorrow. Marin went ahead because she lost one set (4) less compared to Saina (5).
With the end of this match the Indian shuttler ends her campaign with one win and two losses. The Sainasquad was in full force cheering for the Indian in high spirits.
Earlier in men's singles, shuttler Kidambi Srikanth ended his campaign with a loss against Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 17-21, 13-21 in 32 minutes. The world no. 9 lost all his matches in straight sets to bow out of the tournament.
