London Olympics 2012: Saina Nehwal becomes first Indian shuttler to reach into semi-final
Saina Nehwal, the badminton queen of India, has become the first shuttler of the country who made it through to the semi-final of the London Olympics 2012 after proving her mettle against Denmark’s Tine Baun in quarter-final battle on Thursday, August 2,
at Wembley Arena, in London.
The spirited Nehwal, who has been positioned at number five in Women’s Singles world rankings, is the fourth seed in the mega event and has lived up to the expectations so far and has reached into the top four.
The in-form Indian shuttler played with impressive variations in her shots in opening set of quarter-final battle and easily took it.
However, Nehwal had to dig into her arsenal to save three set points in the following game and won it narrowly to seal off a good victory in straight games with a decent score on the board.
On the other hand, the World Number Seven Baun played good badminton but remained unlucky at the ending points of second game and lost the battle with a tight score.
Baun also lost her focus when a controversial call at the third line of the court went against her favour at the ending points of second set.
Consequently, the Indian shuttler managed to end up the match with a 21-15 and 22-20 margin on the board.
After winning the match, a delighted Nehwal said that she really wanted to win this match for her and for her country as well.
She stated, “I am very happy I have done well for myself and for my country. I don't quite know what happened in those last five points, but I really wanted to pull out that second game, as she is a very strong and experienced player.”
The Indian shuttler knew that if she had lost the second set, her Danish rival would have put up strong show in the decider.
She added, “I am sure she would have come back really strong. So I put a lot into those points. I am really tired now.”
In the Women’s Singles semi-final, Nehwal will be up against World Number One Chinese shuttler Wang Yihan who defeated the World Number 11 Cheng Shao Chieh of Chinese Taipei in the other quarter-final battle.
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