Saina, Sindhu bow out

Wuhan, April 24 

Indian challenge ended at the Asia badminton championship with Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu suffering defeats in the quarterfinals here today.

World No. 1 Saina could not get past fifth seed Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei, going down 21-16, 13-21, 18-21 in a 55-minute women’s singles match. Eighth seed Sindhu, who is playing her first tournament after missing action last month, too ran out of steam against top seed Li Xuerui of China, losing 21-11, 19-21, 8-21 in a match that lasted 52 minutes.

Olympic Games bronze medallist Saina has struggled against Tzu in the recent past. The Indian went into the game having lost her last five matches to her. The script didn’t change this time, too. 

Saina fought back to draw parity at 11-11 after falling behind early on. She even opened up a slender 16-14 lead, only to blow it away. However, she scored five consecutive points after that to grab the opening game.

In the second game, Tzu didn’t give Saina any chance and wrapped it up with ease at 21-13.   

In the decider, Tzu once again took an early lead but Saina clawed her way back to make it 17-17. The Taiwanese shuttler, however, held her nerve and shut the door on the Indian to move into the semifinals.

Sindhu, too, won the first game before losing the last two. Going into the match with a 1-1 record, Sindhu opened up an impressive 8-1 lead and clinched the game at 21-11. In the second game too, Sindhu opened up a 7-3 lead but Xuerui fought back to first draw parity and lead by 17-13. Sindhu narrowed the gap to 19-20 but the Chinese grabbed the next point to take the contest into the decider.

In the decider, Sindhu ran out of team as the Chinese took the set 21-8. — PTI