Saina Nehwal probably ran out of steam or Nozomi Okuhara found a different gear at a time when the BWF World Championship semi-final hung in balance. But whatever the reason, the Indian will not make it to the final for the second time in succession after losing 12-21, 21-17, 21-10 in 73 minutes.
The disappointment of missing out on the final after coming so close can be completely understandable but a bronze medal in a competition where no one really had many expectations from her is worth celebrating.
Nehwal came into the tournament as an underdog. Even she wasn’t willing to speak of her chances in a tournament in which she had made the quarterfinal every time in the last seven editions. The drop in ranking meant that she was always going to have a difficult road to the podium.
No more an underdog
But the 27-year-old registered two big wins – first over second seed Sung Ji Hyun of Korea and the other over local hope Kristy Gilmour – to reach her first semi-final of the year. Had luck favoured her just a little at the fag-end of the second game against Okuhara, Nehwal would have been a step away from a world title just a year after a career-threatening injury.
Nehwal began the semifinal encounter with a very fast tempo and raced to an 8-2 lead as she moved her opponent to all corners. Okuhara had no answer to the precision of Nehwal’s tosses. The Japanese only managed to string a few points together from 16-6 to 16-10 but she was never in the game.
The four straight points to start the second game probably gave Okuhara the confidence that she could stage a comeback as Nehwal made a few mistakes at the net. However, the Indian did make up for the deficit soon and the two players were neck-and-neck till 15-15. This was when Nehwal’s net dribble hit the tape of the net but just failed to fall on the other side, which could have given her the lead for the first time in the second game.
But that was not to be and a couple of errors while going for the kill cost her the game and also the match as Okuhara found a different gear in the third. Nehwal looked tired once her opponent began taking points in a hurry. The Japanese was retrieving everything thrown at her and was always a step ahead of the Indian when it came to anticipating her strokes.
Nehwal admitted later that she could do nothing in the third game as Okuhara was returning everything. She insisted that she couldn’t have done anything different to break that rhythm but continue to play those long rallies and hope for a mistake from the opponent.
‘Gave my best’
“Having coming back from an injury, I am very happy to get to the semis but naturally disappointed to lose when you are a game up,” Nehwal said after the match. “However, I gave it my best and I am pleased with that. She started to win the long rallies after the first game and that was the main reason for her comeback.”
The 27-year-old hinted that she probably didn’t recover so well after the gruelling quarterfinal against Kristy Gilmour on Friday. “After the long match in the evening session [on Friday], I would have hoped to have more time for recovery instead of playing in the morning session,” she said. “But I can’t complain about that since she also played at the same time and had a long match. After the match [on Friday], I just went to sleep and tried to take as much rest.”
Though Nehwal may have been found wanting in the third game against Okuhara on Saturday, the way she played in the championship only means that she can only get better from here with every tournament.
A long injury break normally also takes a toll on the overall fitness of a player and however hard one trains after that, it does take time to find the same rhythm in a match situation and then build on the overall endurance to last a week and win major events.
Knee holding up well
Nehwal looked primed to challenge the best once again, with her movements as fluid as before and the knee holding well while lunging or going for the round-the-head shots.
“My knee is doing better. I feel the strain sometimes but not something that is worrying anymore,” she said, adding she has only played seven to eight tournaments this year and she would only get better with more competitions.
With the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games scheduled next year, Nehwal’s primary goal is to avoid any further injury and improve with every tournament.
“The performance here has given me the confidence that I can play at the highest level again,” she said. “I had a tough draw in the tournament and I am happy to go back with a medal.”
Nehwal’s coach Vimal Kumar felt that she erred in tactics a bit in the second game and just lost the momentum in the third. However, he sounded confident that this was just the beginning of the London Olympics bronze medallist’s return to peak form.
“After she defeated Ratchanok [Intanon] and Sung [Ji Hyun] in Indonesia and Australia, I felt she is ready to once again challenge the best,” he said. “She prepared well for this tournament and pulled out two big matches.”
He added, “We have also been working on a few aspects of her game and I am sure we will see a lot more stronger Saina in future tournaments.”
