Saina Nehwal’s campaign in the India Open came to an end as she lost to USA’s Beiwen Zhang 21-10, 21-13 in quarter-finals on Friday.
The American was in fine form as she raced to a 6-1 lead early on. She dictated proceedings in the first game and went into the mid-game interval with a 11-5 lead. She soon wrapped up the game 21-10.
There was no let up from Zhang, who took a 3-0 lead in the second. Nehwal, though, rectified her errors from the first game and won five points from a possible six to keep the game evenly poised at 7-6. Zhang maintained her advantage and went into the break 11-9 ahead. She sprinted to a 17-12 lead after the resumption of play, before sealing the second game 21-13 and complete a straightforward win over the former champion.
Even Zhang was surprised with the ease with which she managed to get the better of Nehwal. “The shuttles were slow and so I was prepared for long rallies as that is Saina’s game. But today was clearly not her day as she made too many errors,” the American said after the match.
Though Saina did not respond to any media queries after the match, it is understood that she was carrying a slight groin injury which will be assessed further on Saturday before taking a call on her participation in next week’s Badminton Asia Team Championship in Malaysia.