Saina Nehwal hits America wall at India Open

If Saina Nehwal wanted to send out a message that she was not in good enough shape and fitness for the Asian Championships, her performance on Friday made a strong argument.

The World No. 10, seeded fourth at the India Open, was a shadow of the player that reached the final of the Indonesia Masters last week and went down 21-10, 21-13 to Beiwen Zhang in a little over half an hour.

So lacklustre was the performance that the home crowd, which does get behind its favourites at the slightest opportunity, hardly had a chance to do so. And Saina was in no mood to indulge the media either, giving them the cold shoulder.

It was left to PV Sindhu to ensure that there was some local interest left in the singles competition, setting up a mouth-watering semi-final against third seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand. However, the top seed was pushed to three games by the 36th-ranked Beatrice Corrales 21-12, 19-21, 21-11.

Saina’s ouster at the same stage as last year, when she had lost to Sindhu, put paid to hopes of the two Indian stars clashing in the final. More so, after Olympic champion Carolina Marin was shown the door by sixth seeded Hong Kong girl Cheung Ngan Yi 21-12, 21-19.

Saina never seemed to have her heart in the contest against the girl of Chinese origin, who now represents the United States. Apart from a few yells in the second game, the Indian remained rather subdued and even the presence of national coach Pullela Gopichand in her corner hardly made a difference.

There is just one ranking spot between the two players, but Saina had won all their three matches coming into the quarterfinal. But the script changed drastically on Friday. Zhang ran off to a 6-0 lead at the outset, and things didn’t look rosy for the Indian, who seemed slow and error-prone.

The second game was only slightly better, but whenever Saina seemed to get a foot in the door, she promptly gave the initiative back. This should not take any credit away from Zhang, who played a consistent match and returned everything that Saina threw at her with interest. “She did not seem to have a good day and made a lot of mistakes. I tried to be patient,” was Zhang’s assessment of the match. “In previous matches against her, I had tried to be a bit too attacking but that didn’t work,” said the shuttler who now calls Las Vegas home.

Conserving energy

Saina has made it clear that she doesn’t want to be a part of the upcoming Asian Championships, keeping her energy intact for the Commonwealth and Asian Games. She has, time and again, flayed the new rule introduced by the Badminton World Federation which makes it mandatory for the top 15 singles players to appear in at least 12 tour events each year. Her performance in the quarterfinal suggested she was in no position to go into the weekend of two successive tournaments.

The home crowd can now focus its energy on backing the defending champion, who needs to avoid the lapse in concentration she had against Corrales. She gave the Spaniard a big lead in the second game, and even though she made a late charge towards avoiding a decider, Sindhu just fell short.

“I came back in the second game, but a lucky net chord went against me, or else it could have been decided in two games. But overall, it was a good game for me,” the Rio Olympics silver medallist said. “In the third game, I maintained the lead from the start and finished it comfortably.”

Sindhu knows any lapse against Ratchanok could cost her the crown. The Thai touch artist has won four of their six meetings, though the Indian has had the last laugh in two of their last three matches. “It is not going to be easy. She is a tricky opponent. Last time in Hong Kong, I won in straight games. I have to give my best.”

Mixed day in doubles

Apart from Sindhu, the only bright spot for India was the pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikki Reddy making it to the mixed doubles semifinals. The eighth seeds had an easy outing against China’s Han Chengkai and Cao Tong Wei 21-8, 21-13 in 24 minutes.

If Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa had won their quarterfinal, it would have ensured an Indian pair in the title match. But they went down to No.5 seeds Mathias Christiansen and Christinna Pedersen of Denmark 21-17, 21-11.

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