Saina Nehwal crashes out, Sourabh Verma and Gurusai Datt progress at India Badminton Championships
Local Indians faced a mixed first round of the first-ever super series held in Delhi, the Yonex Sunrise India Badminton Championships 2011.
Saina Nehwal crashed out at the hands of Japan’s Ai Goto in the first-round match of her home event. Sourabh Verma and Gurusai Datt made impressive wins beating Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Boonsak Ponsana respectively to move into the second round.
World number four Nehwal suffered a massive defeat in straight sets with the score line of 17-21, 19-21 to the Japanese Ai Goto. The top seed Indian looked totally off colour during the match missing easy shots while her opponent was determined and focused.
Goto played brilliantly in the match and gave no chance to the Indian to bounce back.
The 21-year-old Nehwal had already beaten Goto in three thrilling encounters before and she was expecting to retain that glory in front of the home crowd at the Siri Fort Complex in Delhi. However, she failed to live up to the home expectations when the
Japanese star fired her winning shot.
Nehwal told the press, “She caught me by surprise with her strong play. She retrieved everything I sent to her and she kept the shuttle low. She also was strong in her smashes which I didn’t expect.”
The young Indian ace also has been suffering from ankle injury for the last couple of months.
“The injury is not an excuse as I have been training and playing with it before. I just couldn’t find the answers to her play and I made too mistakes,” she added.
On the other hand, Goto was quite happy at her success as this win can be a major turn in her career.
“This is one of the most memorable wins of my career as I beat Saina,” said Goto. “I was totally focused on winning today as I knew she was under tremendous pressure as expectations were high from her own fans.”
Earlier in the day, Sourabh Verma caused a major upset when he defeated the Athens Olympics bronze medallist, Sony Dwi Kuncoro in straight sets with a tremendous performance at the arena and gave the home crowd something to cheer about. He beat the Indonesian
convincingly 21-18, 21-19.
Meanwhile, another youngster from India Gurusai Datt made his mark as he nudged Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana down by 22-20, 18-21, 21-19 to cruise into the second round.
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