Defending champion Saina Nehwal took another step towards retaining her title when she played out of her skin to eke out a thrilling win over Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun in the quarterfinals of the India Super Series at New Delhi on Friday.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina defeated Sung 19-21 21-14 21-19 in an energy-sapping women’s last-eight match at the Siri Fort stadium.
There was hardly any winner in the grueling three-game match as each rode on the other’s unforced errors.
Saina, who has beaten Sung five times in the past used her drops early on to catch the Korean at the forecourt.
However, unforced errors and a few deceptive returns helped Sung to lead 8-4. The Indian showed her resilience to claw back at 10 before a shot from Sung left her stranded.
After the break, Saina turned the tables to lead 14-12 but soon Sung once again drew parity. The Indian once again nosed ahead to 17-15 but once again Sung fought back and grabbed a 18-17 lead after Saina made a wrong line call and then hit the net.
Another return going to net and then failure to retrieve a shot at the right side gave Sung a 20-17 lead. Saina saved two but left the next thinking it will drop inside the line.
In the second game, Saina lead 3-1 when Sung took a break to attend to her right ankle. When the match resumed, Saina continued her good run to lead 6-2.
Sung slowly leveled par at 6-6 when a low return from Saina went to the net. The Indian again surged ahead and entered the break at 11-7.
After the interval, Saina extended the lead to 13-8 and then zoomed to 19-10 with the Korean crumbling. Sung grabbed three points before another long shot gave Saina a 20-13 lead. The Korean saved one but Saina roared into contest when Sung failed at the net.
In the decider, Sung lead 5-2 early on but she faield to rein her unforced errors as Saina soon turned it around at 8-6. The Korean looked visibly tired as she didn’t even try to retrieve some of the shots as Saina reached the break with a 11-7 advantage.
A change of side seemed to change the fortune of Sung, who reeled off six straight points to grab the lead 13-11. A net error broke the rhythm but Saina again hit wide as Sung lead 14-12.
Two wide shots from Sung brought Saina to an even-knell at 17-17 befroe he grabbed the lead when the Korean erred at the net.
A couple of long shots from Sung took Saina to a 20-19 lead. Sung saved one but Saina grabbed the net after another fierce rally and threw up her arms in ecstacy. – Agencies
