E-Paper
Saina makes shock exit, ends Indian campaign
India's gold medal hope Saina Nehwal suffered a shock defeat in the women's singles quarter-finals as country's campaign ended in badminton on Thursday.
India's gold medal hope Saina Nehwal suffered a shock defeat in the women's singles quarter-finals as country's campaign ended in badminton on Thursday.
World No. 3 Saina lost 8-21, 21-8, 19-18 to last edition's silver medallist and world No. 12 Yip Pui Yin in the quarterfinal, which lasted 46 minutes. The second seed Saina came back well after surrendering the opening game but her weak net-play, in comparison to her sixth seed rival, dented her chances severely. The Indian saved a match point in the decisive game but a service error at crucial 19-20 stage sealed her fate.
In the third game, even till the deep end the scores were tied 18-18. Yip attacked Saina's backhand throughout and earned her first match point with the same strategy with a smash winner. Saina managed to save that but an unforced error on the next point brought curtains on her campaign.
