Saina Nehwal knocks down Li Han in Women’s Singles round-of-16 at Thailand Open 2012
India’s best ever female shuttler Saina Nehwal made her fans happy by reaching into Women’s Singles quarter-final after defeating China’s Li Han in round-of-16 contest at SCG Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold 2012 Thailand, on Thursday, June 7.
The India’s badminton queen showed up her tremendous skills in the court and thrashed her Chinese opponent in a remarkable manner by ending up the fight in straight games.
Saina, who is currently World Number Five in Women’s Singles world placements, put up superb show of top quality badminton and sent Han packing by consuming just 42 minutes in the court.
The Chinese lady, on the other hand, could not extend her winning run in the tournament as she failed to overpower her India opponent and bowed down without taking any set.
In the opening game, Han played well by making her higher ranked work hard to take the bird from all corners of the court.
In the meanwhile, Saina could not get a good rhythm in opening set and remained behind of the score board at 9-11 until the mid-game interval.
After the break, the Chinese did not let Saina to take lead until the score reached at 17-17 when the higher ranked Indian played to her full potential and scored four consecutive points to grab the set with a margin of 21-17.
In the second game, Han again played impressive badminton and put up tough resistance against her Indian opponent.
On the other hand, Saina remained calm and focused in the court at the initial stage of second game and started to gear up her speed at the ending points of opening half. She managed to take a reasonable lead of 11-8 until the break.
After the interval, Saina continued her positive and commanding play in the court as she did not let her aggressive opponent to take over the control of rallies.
The higher ranked Indian was impressive in her technique and grabbed the second game with a superb 21-13 score on the board.
The top seeded Saina won this Women’s Singles showdown in an emphatic fashion by a comprehensive margin of 21-17 and 21-13.
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