Saina Nehwal reserves her berth in Women’s Singles quarter-final of the 2011 World Championships
India’s most celebrated shuttler, Saina Nehwal made her mark into the Women’s Singles quarter-final as she won her round-of-16 match against Hong Kong’s Pui Yin Yip at the 2011 World Championships. The encounter was held at the Wembley Arena in London, on
August 11.
Saina Nehwal, who is currently placed at the Number Six spot in the Women’s Singles world rankings, played good badminton in the round-of-16 match against the Hong Kong shuttler, who gave up in the second set as an injury forced her to leave the match.
In the first game, Saina proved that she is one of the best shuttlers in the world of badminton as she moved forward in the match easily. She was perfect in her stroke placement and her speed in all areas of the court was quite impressive. The World Number
Six was relying on her drives with speed, which made her opponent work hard to get the bird from all areas of the court.
Saina’s control of the bird and her deceptive strokes earned her wonderful advantage against Pui Yin, as the higher ranked Indian kept her opponent guessing where the bird will land. However, the Hong Kong shuttler was playing a slow game as she was having
an injury and could not move freely. Saina won the opening set without any considerable fight from her rival with a 21-3 margin.
The Indian remained on the driving seat by playing at the same speed. Pui Yin’s injury started to become more intense and she decided to leave the match. Saina was leading the second game with the score of 13-5, when the Hong Kong shuttler gave up by shaking
hands with the Indian.
While talking about the quarter-final berth, Saina said, “I am happy to make it to the quarterfinals. I am in the best shape this year. In 2009, I was suffering from chicken pox and didn't get much time to train. This time I have trained for more than a
month.”
In the quarter-final of Women’s Singles, Saina is set to play against China’s Wang Xin, who is currently World Number Three and also the third seed of the event.
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