World No. 3 Saina Nehwal bows out of Indonesia Open

Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal crashed out of Indonesia Open Superseries Premier after losing the quarter-final match to China's Shixian Wang on Friday. The Olympic bronze medallist Saina went down 21-16, 12-21, 18-21 to Shixian.Second seed Saina, winner here in 2009, 2010 and 2012, got off to a great start, smashing with aggression at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

The 25-year-old launched a fierce attack on the Chinese, winning five consecutive points to take a strong lead. The Hyderabadi won 21 points out of 37 played, thus going one up by 21-16.
Fifth seed Shixian, 2010 Asian Games champion, as always with a never-say-die attitude, came back strongly in the second game. She snatched six consecutive points and gave 2010 Commonwealth Games champion Saina very little to level things up 1-1 with a 21-12 victory.

The deciding game saw a nail-biting finish as both the shuttlers went all out at each other. Although Saina took the lead at one point of time held a healthy 13-8 advantage the formidable Chinese came back strongly, winning five consecutive points to equalise at the 15-point mark before sealing the game 21-18.

Shixian, bronze medallist in the 2010 World Championships, will next face Thailand's former world champion and current world No.6 Ratchanok Intanon, who earlier crushed Indonesia’s Lindaweni Fanetri 21-7, 21-6 to enter the semis.
With this win, Shixian, 25, took a 7-6 lead in career meetings over her Hyderabadi opponent.