2013 Korea Open: Saina Nehwal crashed out of Women’s Singles event
India’s ace shuttler Saina Nehwal had to face a woeful exit from the Women’s Singles event of Victor Korea Open after losing a quarter-final match to Han Li on January 11, 2013.
This hard fought tussle was staged at the local badminton arena of Seoul, Korea and both contenders remained head-to-head for 59 minutes.
They put a brilliant show of skills and kept the audience intact until the final figures of 14-21, 21-15 and 12-21.
World Number three Saina Nehwal, who was one of the frontrunners in this esteemed tournament, proved all the predictions wrong by losing opening and ending segments of this showdown.
On the other hand, the unseeded Chinese campaigner played impeccable badminton and secured a semi-final spot.
Han Li raised her chances of success immediately in the beginning of battle as she bagged first match point with distinction.
She did not show any sign of bewilderment in front of the higher ranked rival and established an early advantage. This initial lead helped her in next couple of rallies and she finished first half of the set with a respectable score position.
After the mid-game break, Saina showed some spark but her supremacy was really short lived. The opposing shuttler struck hard and tipped the scale in her favour.
The Chinese campaigner maintained a significant difference on the points table. She won this crucial set with a convincing margin of 21-14.
However, the Indian badminton queen did not remain at the lower end in next game. This time she changed her strategy and played with an authoritative approach.
Saina gained a decent advantage by prevailing in couple of establishing rallies and then capitalised this lead to place a mountainous figure of 11.
In the latter part of game, she did not show mercy and stamped her competitor with an overwhelming score of 21-15.
The decider was expected to be a nerve-racking contest as Saina Nehwal had counterbalanced the situation.
Unexpectedly, Han Li ruled the court from very first stroke and maintained that upper hand all the way to game point situation. She registered a significant figure of 21-12 and sent Saina packing with this staggering knock.
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