|
Saina scrapes past Xuerui to win third Indonesia Open crown
Sunday June 17, 2012 05:24:42 PM,
IANS
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Jakarta: India's Saina Nehwal got a big shot in the arm ahead of the London
Olympics as she saved two match points before beating Li Xuerui of
China to win her third Indonesia Open title in four years here
Sunday.
The World No. 5 upstaged the reigning All England and Asian
Champion 13-21, 22-20, 21-19 after a tantalisingly close match for
her maiden Super Series Premier crown and second in as many weeks
following the victory at the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold event
in Bangkok last Sunday. For the Chinese, it was her first loss in
five straight finals and first to Saina in two years, making the
head-to-head record 4-2 in her favour.
With the win, the Hyderabadi continued her love affair with
Indonesia where she won back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010
besides reaching the final in 2011.
"I just love coming here. I get great crowd support and I feel
like a champion everytime I step on the court," said Sania of the
tournament which was awarded Super Series Premier status from
Super Series tag last year and is at par with the prestigious All
England Championships.
The final lasting 1 hour 5 minutes provided a great spectacle to
the badminton fans with both players indulging in long rallies
ending with power-packed smashes.
Saina was at the receiving end before pulling off a memorable win.
She looked out of sorts in the first game and posed little
resistance against her opponent's down the line smashes and crafty
net play. Li was one game up 15 minutes into the contest.
The Indian, realising the need of a change in strategy, attacked
more in the second and gained a 13-8 cushion. That was when
Xuerui's fighting capabilities came to the fore as cut Saina's
lead to 13-12 and then went on to take six straight points from
14-18 to secure two match points. Saina, however, managed to
regain her composure to level the match.
The decider had everyone on the edge of their seats with Saina
trailing 10-11 at the mid-game break. Saina, however, did manage
to maintain a slender lead from there on. Unforced errors started
to creep in from Li's racquet and Saina earned crucial points by
attacking more on the body and was ahead 19-16. The 22-year-old
did not squander the advantage this time around and shut the door
on her opponent with a forehand winner.
A couple of net cords going either way added more excitement
towards the finish.
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
 Pranab all set for Rashtrapati Bhavan
Pranab
Mukherjee appeared set to enter Rashtrapati Bhavan as the BJP
remained undecided over the issue and even sections of the
party-led National Democratic Alliance »
Pranab Mukherjee: Politician nonpareil becomes constitutional
guardian
SP, BSP
extend supports; Omar tweets 'Congratulations Pranab Da'
|
|
|
|
Most Read |
|
 Saudi Crown Prince Nayef dies in Geneva
Saudi Arabia's heir apparent Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
died Saturday at a Geneva hospital following prolonged illness, Al
Jazeera reported. The 78-year-old was undergoing treatment »
|
|
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh battle to contain deadly encephalitis
outbreak
Acute
encephalitis syndrome (AES), the deadly mosquito-borne disease
that has hit Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, two of India's most
populated states, is spreading.
More deaths of AES patients, mostly children from poor families,
from the states have been reported and the outbreak of the
» |
|
|
|
News Pick |
|
 'Education alone can get Muslims back on the right track'
Commending the efforts taken by the Association of
Muslim Professionals for Muslim students, experts on Saturday
urged the Muslim »
|
|
Delhi's starved sisters remained locked up for 6 years
An eerie
silence shrouded the Gupta household in north Delhi's Rohini where
two sisters had locked themselves for the last over six years.
Traumatised and frightened to face the
» |
|
Divided BJP discusses option of backing
Sangma
The Bharatiya Janata Party's nearly three-hour-long
meeting on presidential polls ended inconclusively with leaders
discussing the possibility
»
NCP cautions Sangma, says he will withdraw |
|
Karnataka: Indiscipline plagues both BJP, Congress
Karnataka's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the main opposition
Congress are facing the same problem - indiscipline, and it seems
this malaise will only worsen as the state is set for assembly
polls in less than a year. »
|
|
|
|
Picture of the Day |
|
 |
|
The model of the Shaikh Zayed Grand
Mosque presented to the Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Centre
for Arabic Language and Islamic Studies in Beijing by the Shaikh
Zayed Grand Mosque Centre. The 1:150 scale model is made of
acrylic.
(Photo: Gulf
News) |
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
Quick links