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Saina Nehwal loses to Ratchanok in French Open quarters

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Sania-Nehwal

Paris: Leading Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal suffered a stunning defeat in straight games against Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in the women’s singles quarter-finals of the $275,000 French Open Super series here on Friday.

Top seed and world No.2 Saina lost 9-21, 15-21 in 39 minutes against 2013 world champion Ratchanok at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin to bring an end to the Indian campaign at the tournament.

With this win, 20-year-old world No.7 Ratchanok improved her head-to-head record to 4-6 against the 25-year-old Olympic bronze medallist and 2015 World Championships silver medallist.

Saina was not at her best on Friday and Ratchanok pounced on every mistakes and weaknessess shown by the Indian.

The Thai held a 6-4 lead initially that swelled to 10-5 as she bagged four consecutive points. Ratchanok employed her trademark deceptive shots and Saina had no answer to them. She was not good at net-play and movement, too.

This allowed Ratchanok to snatch eight points on the trot to hold an 18-5 lead and later win 21-9.

She continued the momentum in the second game and dominated Saina from the outset. A 4-0 lead at the beginning meant Saina always trailed her. Ratchanok stamped her authority to race to an 11-5 lead at the break.

Saina played a bit better after the break. She collected 10 points – the same as Ratchanok – after the break.

But there was not stopping the three-time former world junior champion Ratchanok as she pocketed the second game 21-15 and entered the semi-final.

(IANS)

Saina Nehwal regains top spot in rankings

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SAINA NEHWAL

New Delhi: India’s Saina Nehwal has regained the women’s singles World No.1 spot in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings released on Thursday.

The Hyderabadi became No.1 for the first time exactly two weeks back. She dropped to No.2 position last week but once again overtook China’s reigning Olympic champion Li Xuerui to retake the top spot.

The 25-year-old has had a good 2015. She won the India Grand Prix Gold in January, India Open Superseries in March, and reached the All England Open final also last month. In the last tournament, she played — Malaysia Open Superseries Premier — Saina reached the semi-finals earlier this month.

On the other hand, P.V. Sindhu, who has been out of action due to an injury, dropped three places to No.12.

In men’s singles rankings, Kidambi Srikanth has retained the No.4 spot while reigning Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap has risen a place to No.14 following his semi-final appearance at the Singapore Open Superseries.

Meanwhile, H.S. Prannoy, who is nursing a toe injury, dropped a spot to No.15.

In women’s doubles, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa are ranked No.18. There are no Indian shuttlers in the top-25 of the men’s and mixed doubles rankings.

(IANS)

Saina Nehwal loses top spot in rankings after Malaysia Open semifinals defeat to Li Xuerui

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Saina Nehwal lost her World No 1 ranking following her semifinal defeat against China’s Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the Malaysia Open Super Series Premier.

Saina Nehwal lost her World No 1 ranking following her semifinal defeat against China’s Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the Malaysia Open Super Series Premier.

Kuala Lumpur: Saina Nehwal lost her World No 1 ranking on Saturday following her semifinal defeat against China’s Olympic champion Li Xuerui in the USD 500,000 Malaysia Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament.

Li Xuerui beat Saina 13-21, 21-17, 22-20 to reach the final where she will face the winner of Carolina Marin vs Wang Shixian match.

Before her semifinal win over the Indian, the two-time World Championship silver medallist had defeated Saina eight times, while the Indian beat her twice — once during the 2010 Singapore Open and then at 2012 Indonesia Open.

Xuerui, who had withdrawn from the BWF World Super series last year due to an injury and also skipped India Super Series last week.

On Friday, Saina Nehwal edged out China’s Sun Yu to reach the women’s singles semifinals of the tournament.

The third seeded Indian eked out a 21-11 18-21 21-17 win over Sun in a quarterfinal battle that lasted an hour and 11 minutes at the Putra Stadium here.

The Olympic bronze medallist, who had a 2-1 record going into her quarterfinal match, stamped her authority right from the start as she didn’t give the Chinese any easy points.

Brimming with confidence after her India Open triumph and ascent to World No.1, Saina zoomed ahead to 12-4 with a eight-point burst and never looked back. He grabbed the first game rather comfortably.

The World No. 15 Sun, however, made a flying start in the second game, opening up a 7-1 lead early on but Saina soon caught up with the Chinese at 14-14. Sun then slowly started to distance herself from the Indian and made a successful return to the match.

A jolted Saina recovered in no time and surged to a 11-4 lead at the break in the decider. After the interval, Sun reeled off seven straight points from 8-14 to wrest a slender lead. The duo battled till 17-17 before the Indian slammed the door on the Chinese with four points on the trot.

Saina has been on a roll ever since winning the China Open last year. She clinched the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold, reached the finals of All England Championship, before winning the India Super Series last week.

(PTI)

Saina in quarters, Prannoy, Kashyap lose in Malaysia Open

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Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP

Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP

Kuala Lumpur: World No.1 Saina Nehwal reached the quarter-finals while men’s singles shuttlers H.S. Prannoy and Parupalli Kashyap suffered crushing defeats in the second round of the $500,000 Malaysia Open Superseries Premier at the Putra Stadium here on Thursday.

Olympic bronze medallist Saina registered a facile 21-13, 21-9 win in 30 minutes against Chinese qualifier Xue Yao in the second round of the women’s singles event.

In the last eight stage, the 25-year-old Hyderabadi, who currently trains under Vimal Kumar in Benagluru, will face World No.15 Sun Yu. The Chinese worked hard for her 21-17, 20-22, 21-17 victory over Malaysian Beiwen Zhang.

Prannoy, who jumped three places to be 14th in the World rankings on Thursday, lost 15-21, 14-21 in 52 minutes to five-time World champion Lin Dan of China.

World No.17 and Commonwealth Games champion Kashyap received a 10-21, 6-21 thrashing in 35 minutes at the hands of reigning World champion Chen Long of China.

In another heartbreak for India, leading Indian women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa lost 23-21, 8-21, 17-21 in 58 minutes to the Indonesian pair of Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii.

In the quarter-finals, World No.1 Chen will face Kento Momota, who crushed Hu Yun 21-6, 21-9. Two-time Olympic champion Dan awaits the winner between India’s Kidambi Srikanth and Chinese Tian Houwei.

(IANS)

Saina Nehwal creates history, becomes world No.1

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Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP

Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP

New Delhi: Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal on Saturday created history by becoming the first Indian woman to be ranked World No.1.

Saina reached the summit after Ratchanok Intanon defeated All England Badminton champion Carolina Marin in the first semifinal of the India Open Super Series badminton tournament in New Delhi on Saturday.

The Olympic bronze medallist is in the hunt for her maiden India Open crown as she reached her maiden semifinal at the event on Friday by beating Indonesia’s Hana Ramadhini 21-15, 21-12 at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.

Saina led 10-6 early on but Hana blasted off four straight points to catch up with the Indian. However, Saina slowly increased the gap with her rival to eventually win the first game.

The Indian dished out a better game in the second, as she entered the break with a healthy 11-4 lead and capitalized on the advantage as her opponent crumbled.

Saina will play Japan’s Yui Hashimoto in the second semifinal on Saturday.

Prakash Padukone was the first Indian to reach the summit of the world rankings.

(Agencies)

Saina Nehwal loses All England final to Carolina Marin

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After suffering heartbreaks at the semifinals of the event twice before, it was yet another case of so near yet so far

Nehwal, who has been competing at the All England since 2007, had never lost to Marin before. Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP

Nehwal, who has been competing at the All England since 2007, had never lost to Marin before. Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP

Birmingham: Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal’s quest for becoming the first Indian woman to win the most prestigious All England badminton championship ended in agony after she suffered a heart-breaking loss to Spain’s Carolina Marin in the summit clash here on Sunday.

Nehwal let go of a huge opportunity to script history as she squandered an opening game lead to go down 21-16, 14-21, 7-21 to the reigning world champion in the women’s singles final that lasted for little over an hour.

Olympic bronze medallist Nehwal, thus, failed to emulate her long-time coach Pullella Gopichand (2001) and legendary Prakash Padukone (1980), who had won the prestigious title in the past.

Nehwal, who has been competing at the All England since 2007, had never lost to Marin and looked on course for an encore before the World No. 6 Spaniard scripted a remarkable comeback in the second game to put paid to the Indian’s hopes at the Barclaycard Arena.

After dominating the opening game completely, Nehwal was leading 11-9 in the second but lost steam after the break, as Marin fought back brilliantly and bagged eight out of the last nine points.

In the decider, Marin stamped her authority with her sharp smashes and better movement to completely make it a one-sided contest as Saina could only watch her hopes went up in smoke.

After suffering heartbreaks at the semifinals of the event in 2010 and 2013, it was yet another case of so near yet so far for the girl from Hyderabad, who has at least 16 international titles in her kitty.

Nehwal had in fact defeated the very same opponent in the finals of the Syed Modi International championship at Lucknow in January early this year and started as the hot favourite in Sunday’s final.

Saina Nehwal beats Yihan, storms into All England semis

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saina

Birmingham: Leading Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal got the better of former Chinese World Champion Yihan Wang 21-19, 21-6 to march into the semifinals of the $500,000 All England Open Badminton Championships at the Barclaycard Arena here.

The Olympic bronze medallist was in her element from the start on Friday and never allowed Yihan to dictate the pace of play in the 39-minute contest. With the win, the World No.3 improved her career record against the Olympic silver medallist to 2-8.

The performance also helped the 24-year-old to equal her best showing at the prestigious Super Series Premier event. Saina, who was in the last four here previously in 2010 and 2013, earned a statement-making victory against Yihan, whom she has struggled to beat in the past.

Now, for a place in the final, Saina will meet World No.18 Sun Yu of China on Saturday against whom the Indian has won one and lost one.

At the start, Yihan threatened to run away as she took a 6-2 lead. However, the Indian clawed back to equalise at 8-all. It was a neck-and-neck affair till 13-all. Saina then came up with her vintage game to grab a five-point lead (18-13). She moved sharply and more importantly her defence was up to the task.

Even though World No.5 Yihan fought back with three straight points, Saina managed to hold her nerves and sealed the first game 21-19.

In the second game, Saina upped the ante and took an 8-0 lead in no time, aided by some regal cross-court smashes. Producing a volley of winners, Saina made it a cakewalk in the end with a 21-6 win.

“I’m happy with how I played. My strokes were good. We have had great fights in the past and I have a poor record against her so it’s unbelievable I was able to beat her with less than 10 points in the second game,” Saina said.

On her prospects against Sun Yu, Saina added, “I wasn’t expecting to play tomorrow. It’s a big match and it won’t be easy. I will get some rest and think about that later.”

In the other semi-final, reigning World Champion Carolina Marin will face seventh seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei.

(IANS)

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