Saina Nehwal moves into pre quarter-finals of 2013 Korea Open – Badminton News
India’s badminton queen Saina Nehwal showed her brilliance in the opening round and secured a pre quarter-final berth in Victor Korea Open on Wednesday, January 9, 2013.
She locked horns with Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand and both contenders remained head-to-head for three gruelling sets.
This Women's Singles encounter took place in local badminton arena of Seoul, Korea and it kept the audience intact until the final figures of 17-21, 21-9 and 21-19.
World Number three shuttler Saina Nehwal took some time to get on right track as she lost first set but then she ended this bad patch and locked the honour in splendid manner.
On the other hand, the Thai campaigner could not capitalise her early advantage and crashed out of this prestigious tournament.
Sapsiree, who was unseeded shuttler in this event, raised her chances of success by ruling the court in the opening game.
She unleashed a flurry of productive strokes in the beginning and established a decent lead. Next couple of rallies saw her adding few valuable points in the total. She finished first half of the set with a respectable score of 11 and put her rival under
huge pressure.
After the mid-game break, Sapsiree played flawless badminton and did not give her challenger even a single counterattack opportunity.
She maintained a significant lead until the game point situation and swept the table with 21-17 margin.
However, it proved her last success in this esteemed tournament as Saina stormed back with a strong reply.
This time the Indian campaigner did not repeat previous mistakes and gained an early advantage. She prevailed in seven consecutive rallies and maintained that upper hand until half time.
After the interval, she did not drop this pace and cruised to victory with a convincing total of 21-9.
The decider became survival of the fittest war and both female shuttlers made every effort to ensure their presence in the pre quarter-final round.
They stood toe-to-toe throughout this crucial set and made this a memorable contest. They did not allow each other to form a permanent lead and finally this nerve-racking tussle ended when Saina Nehwal registered a winning figure of 21-19.
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