World Super Series: Erratic Saina fails to cross final hurdle

An erratic Saina Nehwal let slip an early advantage to go down to World No 1 Wang Yihan in the summit clash of the BWF season-ending World Super Series Finals in Liuzhou, China on Sunday.

The World No 4, the first Indian to make the final of the prestigious event, lost 21-18, 13-21, 13-21 in a contest lasting over an hour.

With this win, Yihan kept her 100 percent record against Saina intact, having now beaten her in all their four face-offs so far.

In the first game, leading 11-8, Saina failed to judge the sharp drops from Yihan, who mixed her shots very well to deceive the Indian and narrow the gap.

Saina became anxious and lost a point for hitting outside before being called for a fault as Yihan made it 14-14.

With a powerful smash, Saina moved to 16-14 but a couple of weak net shots meant she allowed her rival to close the gap further (16-18).

A long rally which ended with Yihan hitting the shuttle out gave Saina a 19-16 lead. But Saina hit one out to hand the service over to Yihan and the Chinese made good use of it to narrow it down to 18-19.

Good net play coupled with some precise cross-court shots gave Saina a game point and she made it count by pushing Yihan to yet another unforced error, stunning the home fans into silence.

There was never a dull moment in the second game too as they fought a see-saw battle goinf neck and neck. Saina's anticipation was good but Yihan's accuracy again made the Indian's life difficult. At 5-7, Saina involved Yihan in a long rally and earned a point with her trademark body smash.

Saina covered the court well but Yihan still managed to push the shuttle in irretrievable areas to gain points.

Saina levelled at 8-8 with a sharp drop shot which Yihan had no clue about but a couple of unforced errors by the Indian, along with some quick drops, allowed the Chinese to go into the break with her nose ahead at 11-9.

A stunning rally and some brilliant retrieves helped Saina once again level at 11-11. Yihan pinned Saina to the baseline and led 15-11 with the Indian hitting wide.

As Saina faltered with her return shots and succumbed to unforced errors, Yihan widened the lead to 18-11. Though Saina earned two quick points she once again hit outside to give Yihan the game point at 20-13 and the Chinese didn't waste any time to roar back into the contest at 21-13.

Back on the winning side of the court, Saina's brush with unforced errors allowed Yihan to lead 3-0. Though the Indian earned a couple of points, Yihan still led 6-3.

Yihan started dominating the proceedings and dictated the pace of the game and with a few sharp cross-court drops and angled smashes moved to 9-3.

Saina slowly gathered herself and narrowed the gap to 6-9 but with the Indian losing a point at the net, Yihan jived ahead at 11-7. After the break, Saina earned a point but a wide shot allowed Yihan to move to 14-8.

Unforced errors proved to be Saina's bane as Yihan earned some more points to 17-8. The Indian gained a couple of points but with her return shots finding the net, Yihan moved to 18-11 before closing it with a smash.

This is Yihan's sixth title of the year, which includes the World Championships crown. For Saina, this is her third finish as runners-up.