GUTS: April-May 2011 by Dev Sukumar

Photo courtesy: Badmintonphoto.com

Vol. 3. No. 1

For Private Circulation Only

April - May 2011

GUTS - A Window into World Badminton

Apr-May 2011

Heartening show by

Sourabh, Gurusai TR Balachandran reviews the Indian performance at the first-ever Superseries event to be held in this country – the India Open

he first badminton Superseries ever allotted to India was held in New Delhi from 26th April to 1st May 2011. BWF have brought in progressive measures in the conduct of Superseries events, restricting the entries in the main and qualifying draws of singles to 32 and 16 respectively. Thus a qualifier is required to play only two matches to qualify for the main draw and from then onward, it is only one singles match per day, affording sufficient rest to the players to recover and play their best. The India Superseries did not feature any Chinese player as the Chinese domestic league was in progress. For the first time, BAI entered a number of Indian players who had international rankings in the tournament giving them rich experience at the highest level. That only the singles events had qualifying rounds points to the fact that this event despite being a Superseries was not eagerly contested by players from far and wide. Probably this was the last of the major events before the Olympic qualification period that started in May and many players wanted to be fresh for tournaments during the qualifying period. The men’s singles qualifying rounds featured 14 Indians and Suppanyu (Thailand) and Seang Tan (Malaysia). Sai Praneeth, the junior national champion, beat Suppanyu 21-19, 21-19 and Sourabh Verma outduelled Seang Tan in three games to qualify for the main draw. It is worth remembering that Suppanyu had made it to the finals of the India Grand Prix 2010 in December 2010, held in Hyderabad. Thus out of the four Indian qualifiers, three were Prannoy, Sai Praneeth and Sourabh all of whom are from Gopichand’s stable and have made the transition from the junior to the senior level last year itself. The fourth was Anup Sridhar who is making a welcome return after recovering from injury. In the women’s qualifying, Arundhati Pantwane, the national runner-up, played two tough matches against two Hong Kong players winning the first narrowly at 22-20 in the third and succumbing in the third 13-21 in the second round. The other interesting match was Tanvi Lad’s spirited fight against Sayali Gokhale which she lost 22-20 19-21 15- 21. The qualifiers were Sayali Gokhale, Trupti Murgunde, Sindhu PV and Lok Yan Poon (Hong Kong). In the men’s singles main draw, the Indian heroes were Sourabh Verma and Gurusai Dutt. Despite their relatively small build, both have compact retrieving games which can catch many players off guard. Sourabh beat former World No. 2 Soni Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia 21-18 21-19 and then 2010 All England runner-up Kenichi Tago of Japan 21-19 18-21 21-11. In the quarters, Sourabh was given a lesson in high quality badminton by world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei who smashed through his defense 21-7 21-8. Sourabh’s performance was stunning, especially because he had to fight through qualifying, and beating Kuncoro and Tago on successive days showed he had a big heart.

Gurusai was also very impressive with wins over Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand 22-20 18-21 21-19 and Belgian Tan Yuhan (21-13 14-21, 21-13). Guru had very little left in the tank in his quarterfinal match against Hu Yun of Hong Kong which he lost 10-21, 16-21. Anand Pawar fought hard and lost against Sho Sasaki of Japan in the first round 21-19 17-21 12-21 and Anup could not repeat his 2007 magic against Taufik who swept him aside 21-13, 21-5 in the first round. Arvind Bhat and Sai Praneeth fell in the first round to Park Sung Hwan (Korea) and Wing Ki Wong (HK) in straight games and Kashyap lost to Taufik in the second round. Ajay Jayaram’s fight against Chong Wei was heartening and it was 19-19 in the first game and Ajay was up 18-15 in the second before Chong Wei went into overdrive to wrap up the match 21-19 21-18. Peter Gade’s brilliant rally from the brink against Kazushi Yamada in the first round was sensational. Gade won 13-21 22-20 21-8. It is surprising to see Gade, Lee Hyun Il, Wong Choong Hann and Boonsak still being able to play at the highest level despite their advancing years.

Apr-May 2011

In the women’s singles Saina made a surprise exit in the first round losing to Ai Goto of Japan 17, 21, 19-21. Obviously, her ankle must have been the problem which prevented her from moving freely. Ai Goto used very sharp drops to catch Saina short at the net. Saina is a phenomenally fit player who uses her fitness to outmanoeuvre her opponents to submission. In her case, even a marginal fall in fitness could prove fatal as she depends so much on it. No player from India advanced to the second round. Sayali Gokhale lost a close match against Singapore’s Chen Jiyayuan after 19-19 in the third. Sindhu did well to push Salakjit Polsana of Thailand to two close games 21-19 22-20. Aditi lost to her nemesis Yip Pui Yin (HK) meekly and Trupti also lost without much fight to Aprillia of Indonesia 12-21, 5-21. Second seeded Tine Baun’s loss to Chen was a surprise but Tine has been plagued by injuries of late. Thai girls Porntip and Inchanon played brilliantly and it was Porntip who clinched the title with a straight game win over Bae Seung Hee of Korea. In the men’s doubles no Indian team could win a match. Sanave & Rupesh, India’s

best pair ever were way below their best and for the others this should have been a learning experience. Top seeds Koo and Tan from Malaysia were upset in the semis by Japanese Hirokatsu Hashimoto & Noriyatsu Hirata and they went on to beat young Indonesians Angga Pratama & Ryan Agung Saputra. In women’s doubles as well, no Indian team could win a match. Jwala & Ashwini fell in two closely contested sets to Malaysia’s Wong Pei Tty & Chin Eei Hui, the former World No. 1s. Jwala & Ashwini have beaten the top two Japanese teams which contested the finals and the top Indonesian pair of Melissa Jauhari and Greysia Polli. India’s performance in mixed doubles was excellent. With Diju recovering from a back injury there was not much chance of Indians doing well in this event. But the current national champions Pranav Chopda and Prajakta Sawant played well to beat the Japanese Kenta Kazuno and Ayaka Takahashi and took a game off the eventual semifinalists Muhammed Rijal & Debby Susanto (INA). Akshay Dewalkar and Pradnya Gadre also stunned Japanese Hirata & Maeda in straight games before

losing out to eventual semifinalists Chan Peng Soon and Liu Ying Goh (MAL0 in three games 18-21 24-22 12-21. Paired events have always been a cause for worry to the Indian coaches and this performance is bound to enthuse them to some extent at least.

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Chong Wei, Porntip pocket India Open

he inaugural India Open Superseries could not have asked for better ambassadors to emerge champions at the end of the week. Lee Chong Wei, the world’s best player, and the youngand-coming Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand walked away with the singles crowns on a memorable final day. Japan took two gold (men’s and women’s doubles), while Indonesia won the mixed doubles. While Chong Wei was expected to win, and he did, after a mild hiccup against old warhorse Peter Gade, it was Porntip who stole the show. With the India Open win, her first Superseries title, the young Thai has served notice. So astonishing were her skills that veteran commentator Gill Clark marked her out as an “exciting talent” who had greatly improved over the past one year. Her left-handed Korean opponent, Bae Youn Joo, matched her briefly, early on. As the rallies progressed, it was apparent thatPorntip, with her superior courtcraft and breathtaking variety of strokes, was pulling Bae back and across the court, placing the shuttle wherever she willed. It had been level until 9, but after that Porntip

reduced Bae to a spectator. In the second game, she gave glimpses of her power as well; the 19-year-old seems to be a complete package, able to switch gears with ease, and if she fulfils the promise she has shown with this performance, women’s badminton has an exciting new star in the making. Earlier, Lee Chong Wei was asked a few questions by veteran Peter Gade, but he probably knew all the answers long before he took the court. After an easy first-game win for the Malaysian, Gade equalised, and seemed to have the advantage with a 6-2 lead in the third. Then followed a long rally; Gade was forced into the error, and Chong Wei steadily closed in on the title. Towards the end, he was playing at half pace, confident that the Dane had nothing left to offer. Results (finals): MS: 1-Lee Chong Wei bt 3-Peter Gade 21-12 12-21 21-15 WS: Porntip B bt Bae Youn Joo 21-13 21-16 MD: Hashimoto/ Noriyasu bt Angga Pratama/ Ryan Saputra 21-17 21-9 WD: Miyuki Maeda/ Satoko Suetsuna bt Mizuki Fujii/ Reika Kakiiwa 26-24 21-15 XD: Tantowi/ Lilyana Natsir bt Fran Kurniawan/ Pia Zebediah 21-18 23-21

GUTS - A Window into World Badminton

We belong in the top Arvind Bhat, member of India’s Sudirman Cup team, talks of the campaign, in which the Indians lost to China in the quarterfinals

joined the camp for Sudirman Cup two weeks before the event, but since I had a knee injury I thought my training was not that good. We played a lot of team event matches for money and bet on results. I think these team event contests got the best out of all us. We could even experiment on many of our doubles combinations. Since Diju was not around we needed to check the doubles combinations. 20th May 2011: We reached Qingdao on 20th May. It is a very scenic place with mountains and beaches. The temperature was almost perfect, hovering around 15-18 degrees Celsius throughout the day. Next door we had a supermarket and an eating place where we had our meals. What I really liked was the breakfast tables. There was a tricolor on every table reserved for the Indian team. We had a good practice session in main hall in the evening when we arrived and basically got used to the conditions. 21st May 2011: The next day was again team practice 22nd May 2011: We played Taipei and lost 3-2. Kashyap won in two easy games. He was playing Hsuan Yi Hsueh, whom he had played at the Asian Games. All of us thought this could be a tough match, but surprisingly Kashyap won easily in straight games. Our doubles combination of Rupesh and Sanave came a cropper against a much higher team. Also our mixed didn’t fare well. It became 2-2 because Saina beat Tzu Ying Tai in three tough games. The final match was the women’s doubles. Jwala and Ashwini could not put things together that day and lost to a much higher ranked pair. 23rd May 2011: On the 23rd we played

Thailand. This was a virtual knockout match for us. If we lost this we would have to head back home. India won 3-2. Fortunately we started well this time around. Sanave and Rupesh beat Bodin/ Maneepong in the first match. Saina’s loss to young Ratchanok Intanon was a surprise. But Intanon is a

Sudirman Cup pretty deceptive and nippy player. I felt Saina had an off day and just played very badly. Next up was Kashyap playing Boonsak Ponsana. Kashyap played a good all-round game, attacked only when required and was patient throughout the match and gave India the lead again. Then our women did the trick that day in the doubles to win a close encounter 21-19 in the third against World No. 8 pair Duanganong/ Kunchala. India had won 3-1. We lost the inconsequential last doubles. 24th May 2011: Taipei beat Thailand and so Thailand were eliminated. I must really give a thumbs-up to the Chinese locals for being so vociferous. Whenever their team played they cheered like crazy but at the same time good skills were always applauded. The crowd was definitely biased but not unreasonably so.

26th May 2011: On 26th we played China. This was an uphill task as any layman in India would guess. But we still managed one point. No prizes for guessing who scored! No, not Kashyap, but his dear friend and sparring partner Saina. She thrashed a hapless Wan Xin, made a total ‘manchurian’ of her prey and gulped her in one go... After losing the previous day she proved how well she can bounce back. We felt so happy to see her redeem herself with this win. The others all played a losing battle but showed a lot of heart. We lost 3-1 I never got a game to play partly because I was injured. With this quarterfinal performance, India are one of the top 8 countries in the Sudirman Cup (mixed) championships and I have to remind you here that we are top 8 in men’s world team championships (Thomas Cup) and also top 8 in women’s world team championships (Uber Cup). So overall we are definitely one of the top 8 countries in the world of badminton. After this loss we had two days’ free time. We went to the beach one day and shopping the other. In the final China beat Denmark 3-0. So I guess our result was better. Of course you can’t discount Korea. They played 3-1 as well against China.

Apr-May 2011

China breeze past India Q

ingdao: India were handed a drubbing by top seeds China in the quarterfinals of the Sudirman Cup – the result was expected, but the one positive was that Saina Nehwal recorded her first win over world No.3 Wang Xin. The Chinese won 3-1 and progressed into the semifinals.

way. It was 14-all in the decider when I lost focus due to two bad line calls and I blew it. Today, my movement was very good and I played the shuttle well. I knew I had a chance as our matches have always been close. I was very well prepared for this match and I’m glad to have clinched a point for India.”

The defending champions opened up with a win in the men’s doubles -- Cai Yun/ Fu Haifeng were too good for Rupesh Kumar/ Sanave Thomas. Saina equaled the tie for India with a surprisingly easy 21-15 21-11 result over Wang Xin, but triple world champion Lin Dan breezed past Parupalli Kashyap, and then the women’s doubles team of Yu Yang/ Wang Xiaoli had it equally easy against Jwala Gutta/ Ashwini Ponnappa.

Sudirman Cup

“I’m very surprised to have won so easily after losing my three previous meetings with her,” said Saina. “I lost to her at the beginning of the month at the Malaysia Open (Grand Prix Gold) but it was three close games which could have gone either

Saina made light of her loss in the Thailand tie to Ratchanok Inthanon. “I know I lost to Ratchanok Inthanon (of Thailand) but that was because I had a tough match a day earlier (against Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying). I had a few more days to train now and I’m looking forward to going back to the world circuit after this.” Results (Quarterfinals): China bt India 3-1 (Cai Yun/ Fu Haifeng bt Rupesh Kumar/ Sanave Thomas 21-15 21-14; Wang Xin lost to Saina Nehwal 21-15 21-11; Lin Dan bt P Kashyap 21-14 21-14; Wang Xiali/ Yu Yang bt Jwala Gutta/ Ashwini Ponnappa 21-8 21-13

Bangalore supports Solibad

orty-two children from two NGOs were invited to a badminton clinic at Karnataka Badminton Association, Bangalore, on June 5th. The children come from various backgrounds and have traumatised pasts -- some are street kids, others drop-outs, orphans, children of migrant labourers, etc. Most have never picked a badminton racket in their lives. Besides them, there were two special children from Tamahar clinic, run by Dr Vaishali Pai, Occupational Therapist. GUTS and Vasanthi P co-ordinated the Bangalore effort. The idea was to hold a clinic and to donate some badminton equipment at the end of it, so that the kids could get initiated into the sport. KBA’s Secretary, NC Sudhir, offered whole hearted support for this noble cause and alloted 10 courts. Coaches Vimal Kumar,

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TR Balachandran and Sudhakar agreed to volunteer their services for the assembled kids. Arvind Bhat, D Guruprasad, Ajit Wijetilak and Krishna Kumar, BN Sudhakar, Vishwas, Umakath, Gowda, Ravi and Pro Sports Shop owners, Bandari of Lanai Pro Shop, Kumar of Kumar Sports, Bhaskar of Sportsline and Yuva Dayal, head of Dayal Sports, besides Vimal himself, immediately gifted playing equipment, T-shirts, shorts, etc. It was challenging to hold the attention of 40+ kids but BN Sudhakar did a great job. He introduced the basic concepts of badminton, and got four trainees from the Padukone Academy to demonstrate. Then there was a doubles exhibition match. The children were split into two groups, with each group supporting one team. The contest was tight and the kids had a whale of a time cheering on their respective team.

It was time to let them get a feel of the game. Sudhakar introduced some elementary drills, lining the kids up in groups so that everybody would get a chance. Meanwhile, Balachandran helped out the special children on an adjacent court, with guidance from Dr Vaishali. Biju Prasad, one of the senior coaches in Bangalore, has offered free training and scholarship for ten children. Vimal is also keen for a longer association with both organisations, while Sudhakar has promised to refer the children to state-run programmes. The programme ended with gifting the organisations whatever was collected - some 15 rackets, four barrels of shuttlecocks, around 20 kit bags, around 30 T-shirts, shorts and a couple of pairs of shoes.

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GUTS - A Window into World Badminton

Apr-May 2011

It was about pride ADITI MUTATKAR, who played in the Maharashtra Badminton League, writes about the experience

hen I heard about the MBL from Uday Sane sir, I was extremely excited. I told him no matter what I am doing I am going to make myself available for the event. MBL is the brainchild of Uday Sane -- he went with the idea to Mr Aniruddha Deshpande and he executed the plan. Thanks to both of them today we are the first sport after cricket to have a league of our own. MBL has a Sudirman Cup format; but with two men’s singles instead of a women doubles event, which I think worked out better as we have very few players playing doubles in the state. I think a lot of us had a lot concerns if we could generate sponsors who would be willing to buy teams, but we all were pleasantly surprised when we found out that there were 12 different sponsors who came ahead and out of that six were selected. Once the owners were selected the next thing was the players’ auction. Sadly, I couldn’t be there to witness the auction, but I was told that it was nothing short of an IPL auction. The owners fought to get the best players in their teams by bidding the highest they could. The player to get the highest bid was Jishnu Sanyal with Rs 81,000. In the women’s, Arundhati Pantwane and I shared the top position with Rs 55,000. Of course

the money was peanuts considered to an IPL auction, but for a first-time league it was not a bad start. I mean, the thought of me being a commodity purchased for Rs 55,000 does bring a smile. To say the truth I never thought a league would start in my time of playing, but it did and I am grateful for that. As far as the tournament was concerned, it was one big party. We had a great opening with dance performances and Marathi movie heroines coming in as the brand ambassadors for the six teams. The best thing was we had a packed stadium on the first day. The public response was really great. I wasn’t surprised, as Pune has plenty of people who play the sport and they are very educated about the game. I represented Sensational Skylarks, which eventually won the first ever MBL about which I am really proud. Playing matches for my team was an amazing experience -- right from the camp that we had for a week before the event to seeing them through to the semis. It’s not every time that a badminton player is treated like a star. Playing MBL made all of us feel like stars, right from the top players to the juniors. An event like an MBL does wonders for the upcoming juniors. My team’s Varun Sarode was revelation. He had a great record in the tournament by winning all matches except one. He beat players he had never beaten before. I’m sure today he has risen in confidence and belief. Varun is doing science and plans to continue in that field but MBL has given him a reason to may be try and think of career in badminton and not just give it up for academics. For me, MBL was not about the star

players. It was actually about finding the future stars. It was about playing with pride for your teams, about an effort to generate money and glamour. It was not really about how many stars you had in your team. It was about how everyone in the team came together to give in their best. I say this because Sensational Skylarks won both the semis and the finals without me (I had gone for the Sudirman Cup). It was an unbelievable effort by the team going in as the underdog and beating teams stronger than them on paper. I love team matches because they truly can bring out the best in you and also because more than anything else it’s all about playing your heart out. I thoroughly enjoyed the MBL experience. It’s a great step forward. The greatest thing about it is ‘it’s all about the players’.

Results (Finals): Sensational Skylarks beat Inspiring Eagles (3-2) 1. MS1- Anand Pawar bt Sudhanshu Medshikar (21-9 21-4) 2. WS- Arundhati Pantawane bt Tanvi Lad (21-14 21-10 ) 3. MD- Nishad Dravid /Nikhil Kolhatkar lost to Sameer Bhagwat /Ameya Joshi (21-18 17-21 15-21 ) 4. XD- Sampada Sahastrabuddhe /Prasad Shetty lost to Pradnya Gadre /Ankush Jadhav (21-10 15-21 14-21 ) 5. MS2- Jayendra Dhole lost to Varun Sarode ( 21-19 6-21 8-21)

Apr-May 2011

‘Must encash upon badminton atmosphere’

uoyed by the unexpected success of the inaugural Maharashtra Badminton League, organizers are setting their sights higher for the next edition. Conducted by the Haveli Taluka Badminton Association under the aegis of the Pune association, the league, held over three weekends, surprised everybody involved – players, organizers and team owners. Unusually for a badminton event, spectators arrived from places near and far, thronging a sport in which national championships are routinely held to nearempty galleries. UDAY SANE, Secretary of the organizing committee, speaks about the league and further ambitions: How was the experience at conducting the league? It was excellent. We’re thrilled. We’re seeing such crowds after 14 years, after the 1997 Senior Nationals in Pune. The galleries were packed; there were about 1,200 people in the stadium. The team owners were very happy with the response. People came from towns such as Sangli and Aurangabad; some even came from Nagpur, which is 16 hours away. It was astonishing. How did you plan your publicity for the event?

We tried various ways. We asked the team owners to put up our hoardings. Since some of them were builders, we requested them to put up our hoardings for 10-15 days, so we didn’t have to pay for the rent. We hired a PR agency. The media was supportive, and publicity also happened by word of mouth. What lessons did you learn from the inaugural league? We have to make written contracts with players that they’re ready to play. Flamboyant Flamingos had signed on Ajay Jayaram, but he could not play because he had to turn out at the French league, and Flamingos were eliminated early. Will the league be upgraded next year? We will have it on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and an additional two teams, to accommodate Mumbai and Nagpur. We’ll have two groups of four each, with each group to play in a different town. We’ll plan it with some TV channels. We’ll also increase the prize money from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 8 lakh, and an additional sum of Rs 2.5

lakh to each team’s kitty so they can spend more, with perhaps one player each from other states. What’s next on your agenda? We have proposed a national-level league, and we’ve sent a letter to the Maharashtra BA through the Pune District Association, with a request to forward it to the BAI. The BAI will have to take a call. If they need any help from us, we are ready. We also plan to conduct a corporate tournament, and to broaden the base of supporters by approaching schools with coaches, racquets and shuttlecocks. There is a badminton atmosphere; we must encash upon it.

Celebrating Doubles ACE-ECA conduct exclusive doubles badminton tournament

CE Sports Association along with ECA: East Cultural Association, Bangalore organized the second edition of “Half Smash Cup: Doubles Badminton Tournament” under the auspices of KBA: Karnataka Badminton Association on the 19-20th of March 2011 at the KBA Courts and on the 25-27th of March 2011 at the ECA courts. The competitions were held in seven categories: Open, +35, +45, +55 (Men), Open & +40 (Women) and Mixed Doubles. Except for Mixed Doubles, players who have represented any state in the last seven years were excluded from participation. The Prize Money on offer was a whopping Rs. 2.50 lacs.

Champion graced the event while, Trupti Murugunde, former National Champion was the Chief Guest on the Final day.

The response was overwhelming with over 130 teams including teams from Karnataka, Kerala and Chennai participating. The Badminton lovers were treated to some high octane games. Arvind Bhat, National

Prize Money for Winners: Rs.30000/-, Runners-Up: Rs.20000/-

The Half Smash Cup has acquired a brand value because of the prize money offered which is more than many major professional tournaments. Results (Finals): 1. Open (Men) : Girish/Abhinand Shetty (Bangalore) bt Pradeep/Rateesh (Kollam, Kerala) 22-20, 15-21, 21-18 : Prize money for Winners: Rs.50000/-, Runners- up: Rs.30000/2. +35 (Men) : U.Vinod/Rizki Budi Raharjo bt Vijay Lancy/Nevelle : 21-16, 21-19

3. +45 (Men) : Bose - Ninan/Bosco Spartan (Kochi, Kerala) bt Chandrasekar/Mahadeva Prabhu : 21-12, 21-10 ; Prize Money for

Winners: Rs.20000/- and for Runners-up: Rs.10000/4. +55(Men) : Srinivasa/SKB Naidu bt MDMurali/Ramu: 20-22, 21-14, 21-16 Prize-money for Winners: Rs.15000/Runners-up: Rs.8000/5. Open(Women): Sangeetha/Bidisha bt Keerthana/Anagha ; 21-7, 21-11 Prize-Money for Winners: Rs.10000/Runners-up: Rs.5000/6. +40 (Women) : Jaysree/Rajeshwari bt Lalitha/Nagamma: 21-15, 21-9 Prize-Money for Winners: Rs.8000/Runners-up ; Rs.4000/7. Mixed Doubles: Akshith Manjan/ Abanthika bt Nithya Sosale/Prakash Jolly 21-19, 21-17 Prize Money for Winners; Rs.10000/- Runners up: Rs.5000/-

GUTS - A Window into World Badminton

Apr-May 2011

Saina fails to put it past Wang Xin

lor Setar: It took less than a fortnight for Saina Nehwal to exorcise the trauma of losing in the first round of the India Open Superseries. Her loss to Ai Goto rankled, and Saina bounced back in the best possible fashion – by storming into the final of the Malaysia Open GP Gold, claiming some big scalps on the way.

reversal, though, as it was Saina who was at the receiving end. From 9-7, Xin shot ahead to 16-8, despite playing a relatively defensive game. The decider was tight – Xin had the initial advantage, but Saina fought back well to level things at 14-all. Inexplicably, she faltered again, and Xin stitched up the next seven points in a row to take the title.

The final loss, to Wang Xin, was a aberration – her first loss in a major final – but her performance would have heartened her after what have been some up-anddown performances in 2011.

Malaysia open

Saina, who had lost both her previous matches to Xin, failed to find a way out, as Xin beat her 13-21 21-8 21-14. Saina dominated proceedings from the start, shooting ahead from 3-all to take the game 21-13. Her attacking game, studded with eight smashes, seemed to overwhelm her Chinese opponent. The second game was a complete

“I made too many mistakes in the match, especially in the second game,” said Saina. “I was bothered by two line calls in the third game and paid the price. I should have kept my cool and it is a good lesson for me. “This is the third time I’m losing to her but I thought I could beat here as I’m physically alright. My ankle is not a problem as it is taped up and I won’t use that as an excuse. “In the second game, I was trailing 8-9 when she won seven points in a row, I

took it easy as I wanted to take a breather and catch her in the decider but it nearly worked. We were level at 14-14 when I sent two crosscourt shots into the net. From there Wang Xin took advantage to run away with the title.” In the semifinals, she scored a convincing straight-game win over seventh seed Korean Sung Ji Hyun, 21-14, 21-13 in just 35 minutes. In the quarterfinals, Saina had scored a morale-boosting win over close rival and world champion Wang Lin of China, 14-21 21-19 21-19. “God helped me recover fast from my injury,” said Saina, referring to her lessthan-peak fitness that saw her first-round exit at the India Open. “It gives me immense satisfaction to beat the world champion.” In the third, Wang Lin remained ahead throughout, and even had a 18-14 lead. To her credit, Saina refused to give up, caught up at 18, and edged ahead for the win.

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