Saina fights but yet again fails to go past Tai Tzu
Loses her 12thstraight match against world No 1
PARIS: Saina Nehwal yet again failed to go past world No 1 Tai Tzu Ying, going down 20-22, 11-21 in the quarter-finals of the French Open here on Friday.
This was the duo’s second meeting in less than a week after the Denmark Open final, where the world No 9 Saina lost 13-21, 21-13, 6-21.
After Friday’s result, Saina has now lost to the Chinese Taipei player in 12 straight matches. Saina’s last victory against Tai Tzu Ying came in quarter-finals of the 2013 Swiss Open.
The scoreline might not suggest it but it was Saina who dominated at the beginning. He agile retrieves and pin-point smashes were too tough for Tai Tzu to handle as midway in the first game Saina led 12-7. The Indian increased the lead to 16-10 and it seemed that this might be Saina’s day. The belief turned stronger as Saina had four game points at 20-16.
But not for nothing Tai Tzu is the reigning Asian Games champion and has become a nemesis for the Indian badminton players in recent times. She saved four game points, forcing a couple of unforced errors and suddenly Saina’s returns lacked direction. The Chinese Taipei girl took the game 22-20. She continued in the same vein in the second game and raced to a 14-7 lead. Saina looked clueless as Tai Tzu dictated the movements and Saina danced to her tunes. It was a point of no return for Saina as Tai Tzu took the game 21-11 and the match ended in just
In an all-indian men’s doubles quarter-final, the pair of Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy defeated Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty 21-17, 21-11.
Earlier, third seed PV Sindhu dished out a compact game to outwit Sayaka Sato 21-17, 21-16 in a second round match on Thursday to set up a clash with seventh seed Chinese He Bingjiao.
In men’s singles, B Praneeth was no match for Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie of Indonesia, going down 16-21, 14-21.