Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal crashed out of the ongoing Australia Open Super Series after losing her quarter-final match to sixth-seeded Sun Yu of China. Sun Yu defeated Saina 21-17, 10-21, 21-17 in a match that lasted for an hour and 19 minutes, reported IANS.
The Chinese shuttler will now take on Nozomi Okuhara in the semi-finals.
The first game saw both Saina and Sun Yu put up a fight and level scores at 11 each and 17 each. However,Sun You picked important points towards the end to run away with the first game.
The Indian shuttler then bounced back to take the second game. Saina started on a promising note and at one point had a seven point lead. She kept maintaining the lead and never allowed her Chinese rival to bounce back. Saina won the second game 21-10 to set up an interesting clash in the decider.
With momentum going Saina’s way, she again took the lead in the third game. However, this time around Sun You caught her fast and the two were involved in a keenly fought contest.
With score reading 15 each, Saina felt the pressure as Sun You ran away with the points. While Saina managed to fetch only two points, Sun Yu contrastingly collected six points to eliminate the Indian from the competition.
Earlier, P.V. Sindhu lost her quarter-final match to Taiwan’s Tai Tzu 21-10, 20-22, 16-21 as well. With this India’s campaign at the Australian Open in the women’s singles category ended. Srikanth Kidambi remains the only Indian in the tournament after he registered a win in quarterfinal against compatriot San Praneeth.
