E-Paper
Defending champ Saina crashes out
Defending champion and fourth seed Saina Nehwal crashed out of the Singapore Open Super Series badminton after losing to Cheng Chieh Shao of Chinese Taipei 21-8, 10-21, 19-21 in the second round in Sangapore on Thursday.
World No. 4 Saina Nehwal failed to defend her title after she lost to unheralded Shao Chieh Cheng of Chinese Taipei 21-8, 10-21, 19-21 in the second round of the Singapore Open Super Series on Thursday.
With this, the India challenge came to an end as all the other Indians crashed out of the tournament a day earlier.
The Indian, seeded fourth in Singapore, had it easy in the first round. But the second game was totally a different story.
Leveled at 2-2, Cheng wreaked havoc on Saina and went on to win till 15-2. Saina tried to get back into the game but Cheng was in no mood to relent and closed the game at 21-10.
By the third game, the court became a battleground as both the warriors fought for every single point. At 3-3, Saina clinched three consecutive points but Cheng returned the favour by clinching the next three on the trot to make it 6-6.
The game intensified as both tried to outdo each other in order to grab points but the turning point arrived at 14-14 when Cheng stretched her lead to 18-14. By the time Saina managed 19-20, it was too late.
