Ace Indian shuttler women, saina Nehwal and Rio Olympic silver medalist P.V.sindhu crashed out of the All England Open badminton championship quarterfinals. The twin loss brought disappointment to Indian fans as they had hoped for a medal from one of their stalwarts.
Saina loses in straight sets
Saina Nehwal who was battling injury for some time had a good run in the championship this year and she reached the quarterfinal with impeccable stroke play. Moreover, she had 6-1 head-to-head over her quarterfinal opponent Korean Sung Ji Hyun. The match was absorbing and Saina and Sung Ji Hyun fought neck and neck in the first set before Saina stretched to an 11-6 lead over her opponent.
Sung Ji Hyun pulled things back and leveled the score at 11-11.That brought the best from Saina and she strode to a 16-12 lead. Sung Ji Hyun came back stronger and leveled the score at 17-17.Sung Ji went to take three points to reach game point at 20-17. Saina did not crumble and made the score line 20-20 and looked in ominous form. But Sung Ji went on to win the first set at 22-20.
In the second set, Sung Ji Hyun took a 3-0 lead to put pressure on Saina. Saina responded well to win four points in a row to make it 4-3. Saina maintained a two-point lead before Sung made it closer and the score read 9-8. Saina and Sung made it 11-11 before Sung again took the lead to make it 13-11 and Saina made it 14-13 and Sung put real pressure back on Saina by taking a 16-14 lead.
Saina wanted to win the game to stay in the match. Sung and Saina made it 20-2-0 before Sung won the game and match 22-20.
PV Sindhu crashes out in straight sets
Sindhu crashed out to World No 1 ranked Tai Tzu Ting of Chinese Taipei in a straight game loss,14-21,10-21. Sindhu who had beaten Tai in the Rio Olympics was nowhere at her best and was erratic in her shot selection.
Tai Tzu is playing her third successive All England semi final with this win. The match started on a positive note for Sindhu as she raced to 10-7 lead. The world no 1 ranked Tai Tzu played in supreme form and her movements were really sharpest as she put Sindhu out of her comfort zone. Sindhu was picking her points with high tosses and Tai Tzu made her play at the center of the court which forced Sindhu to commit errors.
The drop and deception shots of Tai were pinpointed and that added to the pressure on Sindhu and she eventually crashed out.
Indian shuttlers Saina and Sindhu had a disappointing end to their quest at the All England Open. Both need to forget this defeat and should stage a strong comeback.
