India’s Saina Nehwal pushes China on the back foot in the Women’s Singles – Badminton News
India’s top shuttler, Saina Nehwal, has pushed China on the back foot in the category of Women’s Singles, when she defeated the World Number Three, Wang Xin, in the quarter-final match of the Sudirman Cup 2011, on Thursday, May 26.
Saina defeated Xin in straight-sets proving that the supremacy of China in Women’s Singles is over now.
Saina, who is currently World Number Four, delivered a stunning performance against Xin, in front of the local crowd. She put up a tremendous show by playing a terrific game against the local hero in straight-sets and finished the match by a 21-15 and 21-11
margin.
China’s top seed and World Number One, Wang Shixian, also lost her fight against German shuttler, Juliane Schenk, in the group match between China and Germany. It seems that female shuttlers from different countries are catching up with the Chinese athletes
by decreasing the skill gap.
After winning the match, Saina said, “It's good that nowadays a lot of players are coming in to beat the Chinese - not only me, but I also think Juliane Schenk and Tine (Baun, of Denmark). The Thai players and Japanese are also doing very well.”
The Indian mega star further added that Chinese shuttlers are getting confused as many players from around the world have started to beat them. She also expressed that it is happening because of their hard work in the training sessions, which helps them
to compete against China.
China’s head coach, Li Yongbo said, “I agree that in the women's singles more foreign players are doing better than before. But this is not a bad thing, it's good to promote badminton in the world and we don't expect China to win all the matches.”
Saina has exposed the weaknesses in the Women’s Singles line-up of China. She proved that there is not a huge skill gap, as it used to be in the past. The female shuttlers of China now will surely have tough competition in every major event at international
level.
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