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Birmingham, March 15
Saina Nehwal made a first-round exit from the All England Championship after a straight-game defeat against world No. 1 and defending champion Tai Tzu-Ying, while PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth advanced after fighting wins.
Saina, who had reached the final in the 2015 edition, couldn’t match up to the precision and athleticism of Tai Tzu, going down 21-14 21-18. Fourth seed Sindhu fought back after losing a close first game to beat Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong 20-22 21-17 21-9. Meanwhile, fourth seed Srikanth overcame a horrible start to get past France’s Brice Leverdez 7-21 21-14 22-20.
In the women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy fell to the second-seeded Japanese pair of Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi 21-14 21-13.
8th loss in a row
It was Saina’s eighth successive loss to Taiwan’s Tai Tzu in five years. After failing to keep pace with Tai Tzu in the opening game, the 27-year-old Indian blew a 16-11 advantage in the second game to bow out of the $1 million tournament.
Saina, who had lost to Tai Tzu in the final of the Indonesia Masters earlier this year, showed a lot of grit to keep herself in the rallies but the Taiwanese was simply phenomenal and displayed her mastery of strokes in the 38-minute clash to once again outwit the Indian.
Saina took some time to get in the groove as her first serve sailed over to the back of the court. Tai Tzu didn’t waste time and jumped to a 3-1 lead before moving to a 6-2 advantage when the Indian failed to connect a low backhand return.
Tai Tzu committed a couple of unforced errors but Saina also made a judgement error on the sidelines and also couldn’t reach for a return at the forecourt as the Tai Tzu led 9-4.
The Indian, however, grabbed three consecutive points after Tai Tzu erred with a crosscourt flick and netted the smash. Saina managed to level 10-10 with a precise crosscourt return from the back of the court but Tai Tzu went into the break with a one-point lead.
The duo moved together till 14-14 after the breather before Tai Tzu showed her repertoire of shots even as Saina struggled with her control. In the second game, Saina showed better control as she opened up a 3-1 lead and soon made it 10-7 with Tai Tzu suffering a mid-game slump with unforced errors. Saina then unleashed a brutal smash to enter the break with a three-point advantage.
With the Taiwanese sending the shuttle to the net on four occasions on the trot, Saina managed to lead 16-11. But Tai Tzu fought back, riding on her accurate strokes as she made the Indian run across the court with her acute-angled returns. Saina also found the net and sent one long as Tai Tzu narrowed the gap to 15-16 before drawing parity at 17-17 with another razor-sharp crosscourt return from the backcourt. Tai Tzu grabbed two game points and shut the door on the Indian.
