Saina puts up a fight but fails to solve Tai puzzle

Ace Indian take a game off world No. 1 before losing title clash

ODENSE: Saina Nehwal put up a spirited fight but it proved inadequate as she lost to Taiwanese world No 1 Tai Tzu Ying in the final of the Denmark Open here on Sunday.

The 28-year-old Commonwealth Games champion made a comeback after losing the first game tamely, but had little energy left in the decider as she lost 13-21, 21-13, 6-21 in the 52-minute clash.

Saina had made an impressive run to the final in the tournament, but the odds were stacked against her when she faced Tai, who has pretty much been the player to beat in the last two seasons with her court craft and deceptive shots pegging her at a different level from her toplevel opponents.

The Indian ace as well as PV Sindhu had lost to Tai in the Asian Games in Indonesia. While Saina finished with bronze, Sindhu lost in the final to settle for silver.

On Sunday, Saina briefly raised hopes of halting a sequence of 10 losses to Tai in a row. However, the Taiwanese star’s victory in the tournament after a two-year gap, took her head-to-head record against Saini to 13-5. In fact, this was Saina’s fifth straight defeat against Tzu Ying this year.

The Indian had ended second best this year at the Indonesia Masters, All England Championships as well as the Badminton Asia Championships.

TAI DICTATES PACE

Tai, the top seed, meant business from the start as she dictated the pace in the first game to race to a 6-1 lead. Saina looked indecisive but poor line calls also cost her dearly. Tai, on the other hand, was at her clinical best as she engaged Saina in long rallies.

She never let the experienced Saina take the lead in the opening game as she led 11-6 before pocketing the first game in 15 minutes.

Saina, the world No 10 and a former winner of the Denmark Open but unseeded this time, was in no mood to give up without a fight. She came out all guns blazing in the second game. Saina’s switch to an attacking strategy worked wonders for her as she dominated the second game.

Tips from teammate and fiancé Parupalli Kashyap at the end of the first game also seemed to inspire Saina, who had beaten Japan’s world No 2 Akane Yamaguchi and former world champion Nozomi Okuhara on way to the final, and was at her aggressive best in the second game.

Riding on sharp cross court smashes and constant attack with some indecision from Tai also playing a role, Saina led 11-5 at the break and then went on to win the game 21-13.

VARIETY OF SHOTS

The Indian drew many errors from the Taiwanese, demonstrating variety in her shotmaking to take a game off her opponent for the first time in seven meetings.

However, the Indian failed to maintain the momentum in the decider. The intense second game seemed to have taken a toll on Saina who was now making a string of unforced errors.

Once Tai took a 9-2 lead, it was as good as over and Saina hardly offered any resistance.