Saina wins thriller, Sindhu exits

NEW DELHI: Saina Nehwal saved two match points to pull off a thrilling victory against Chinese Taipei’s Cheung Ngan Yi in the first round of Denmark Open in Odense on Tuesday.

However, PV Sindhu crashed out of the tournament, losing to Beiwen Zhang 21-17, 16-21, 21-18. It was a shock exit for third seeded Sindhu, who had a 2-2 head-to-head record against the China-born American going into the match. The American had beaten Sindhu at home in the India Open final in February.

Saina, however, lifted the mood, winning a marathon match that lasted 1 hour and 21 minutes and swayed from one end to another.

The ace Indian, who is not seeded in the 32-player draw, brilliantly rallied after losing the first game to register a 20-22, 21-17, 24-22 win. The Indian, who is ranked 11th, has played the Hong Kong girl twice before with a 1-1 head-to-head record. Cheung Ngan may be ranked 24th but is a tricky player.

Saina will next face second seed Japanese Akane Yamaguchi, who has dominated the Indian so far winning six matches against her on the trot. Saina, however, will gain confidence from her victory against Cheung . Yamaguchi got the better of Beatriz Corrales of Spain 18-21, 21-15, 21-16. It was a see-saw battle between Saina and Cheung that saw fortunes fluctuating sharply.

In the first game, Cheung was leading 18-12 but Saina fought back to win five straight points and then levelled the scores at 20-20. Cheung took two points to finish the first game.

Saina bounced back in the second and maintained an upper hand throughout to draw level. In the decider, it was a close fight and both players kept coming back at each other. Saina had a match point at 20-19 but failed to convert. She then faced two match points but saved both before clinching the contest.

Sindhu has been going through a form crunch . The Olympic silver medallist was knocked out in the second round of the Japan Open after a straightgame loss to Gao Fangjie. The script was no different in the China Open, where Sindhu went down to world No 6 Chen Yufei of China in the quarter-finals.