Shuttle queens Saina & Sindhu assure medals
The roar was deafening. On the adjacent court, local hero Jonathan Christie was decimating Hong Kong-China’s Vincent Wong in the men’s quarter-finals. Not many would have even seen Saina Nehwal and Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon enter the courts for the women’s quarterfinal, unpack their kits and commence the proceeding.
With the GBK badminton complex packed to the rafters, it seemed both competitors were initially finding it difficult to come to grips with the charged up atmosphere. Saina looked edgy and Intanon, who tried to display a cool demeanour, looked like something was bothering her.
Having lost to the Indian in the previous four outings — the last one coming in the BWF World Championships this year — it was but natural that she was keen to avenge the loss. And what better way to do it than on the biggest continental stage.
The Thai was well on her way to ‘thrashing’ Saina, before an amazing turnaround by the Indian saw her ensure a maiden individual medal at the continental games and become the second player after Syed Modi to earn a singles medal for the country in 36 years. In the end, the 21-18, 21-16 scoreline was not a true reflection of how close Saina came to losing the match.
Later, PV Sindhu too assured India of at least a bronze after a tough contest against another Thai opponent, world No 11 Nitchaon Jindapol, winning 21-11, 16-21, 21-14 in 58 minutes.
In the semi-finals, Saina will face World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei’s who beat Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara 21-15, 21-10 and Sindhu will meet Akane Yamaguchi who defeated China’s Chen Yufei 21-19, 21-11.
JAKARTA: The opening game was challenging. The second game was more comfortable, but I knew Intanon was waiting to strike, so I was on my toes. SAINA NEHWAL, world no 10
Perhaps rattled by the crowd and ‘unable to move that well’ in the first game, Saina trailed by nine points (3-12) at one stage. Intanon was finding all the right angles, while Saina seemed to have hit a low point, unable to accurately judge the backline or retrieve the net placements of her rival.
The match seemed headed for a washout and Saina herself said that she ‘had given up hope of winning the first game’. But a couple of long rallies opened her up and she also closed her eyes and ears to ‘the deafening roar around.’
Picking up the pieces, Saina started to fight back, winning most of her points with accurate backline placements. She looked to have sorted out Intanon’s high toss, which was bothering her initially in the opening game.
A net dribble following a long rally finally saw her come on par with Intanon at 17-17 and then when the Thai shot wide, the match was within Saina’s grasp. Playing the second game on her terms, Saina was always in the lead and the laboured movement gave way to fluent court coverage. In fact, after the first game, she ‘started deriving energy from the partisan crowd’. A shellshocked Intanon was inconsolable after the defeat.
Saina doesn’t have a great record against Tai Tzu. She has lost nine consecutive matches against here since 2014.
“Intanon played really well today. I knew she would challenge me. I started badly and I thought I would fight in the second game. But then a few tough rallies had me going,” said Saina.