It wasn’t a great day for India at the Australian Open Superseries on the women’s singles side as Saina Nehwal joined PV Sindhu in getting knocked out in the quarter-finals on Friday. Nehwal was beaten 21-17, 10-21, 21-17 by world No 6 Sun Yu of China in a match that lasted 78 minutes. Earlier in the day, PV Sindhu also lost a three-game match to world No 1 Tai Tzu Ying.
Sun started the first game well, taking a 6-1 lead, before Nehwal found her groove. The gap was reduced to 11-9 at the interval, before Saina won six out of the next seven points to take a 15-12 lead. However, Sun responded by winning seven straight points in a row to take a 20-17 lead and get three game-point opportunities. She needed just one as she closed out the first game 21-17.
It was Nehwal’s turn to take the early lead in the second game and she was doing well at the interval, with the score at 11-4. The 27-year-old Indian converted that into a 20-10 lead, giving her 10 game-point opportunities. Nehwal needed just one as well as she comprehensively won the second game 21-10.
Unlike the first two games, the two players were neck and neck to begin the third game. From 4-4, the score became 9-9, and then 12-12. No one was willing to let up, until that point. It was here that Sun Yu managed to find a higher gear. She was trailing 13-15, before winning five straight points to give herself an 18-15 lead. She made it seven straight points to give her five match-point opportunities.
Nehwal won two of them back, before the two players engaged in the longest rally of the match. A drop shot from Sun eventually turned out to be too good for Nehwal as the Chinese won the decider 21-17.
This was the first time after six consecutive defeats that Sun had beaten Nehwal. The Indian still leads their head-to-head record 6-2. Nehwal’s defeat meant that K Srikanth is the only Indian shuttler still alive in the tournament. The 11th-ranked Indian beat compatriot B Sai Praneeth in straight games in the quarter-finals. Srikanth will take on fourth seed Shi Yuqi of China on Saturday for a place in the final.
