Saina Nehwal Runs out of Steam in All England Final, Misses History
Saina Nehwal lost a three-game All England final vs world champion Carolina Marin. She would have become the first Indian woman to win All England title
Saina Nehwal failed to create Indian history when she lost the All England badminton title in Birmingham on Sunday against world champion Carolina Marin. She would have become the first Indian woman to win the Wimbledon of badminton but went down 21-16, 14-21 and 7-21 in an hour and two minutes. Saina had lost in the All England semifinals in 2010 and 2013. This was Saina's first defeat against the Spaniard in four meetings.
Carolina became the first left-hander in 20 years to win her maiden All England and first-ever Super Series crown. "It's an amazing feeling. To beat Saina is a very happy feeling," the world No. 6 said.
On Women's Day, the third-seeded Indian looked in great touch as she built a comfortable 11-6 lead in the first game and never looked back. She won in 19 minutes as Carolina made several unforced errors at the net.
"I was very nervous in the first game. Then just tried to keep going and was successful," said Carolina, who looked the fitter player in an intense final.
Having beaten two top Chinese players -- Wang Yihan and Sun Yu -- en route to the final, Saina was the overwhelming favourite against the sixth-seeded Carolina. In three previous meeting she had never lost to Carolina and the latest win came in the Syed Modi championship where she won a tightly fought three-game final.
The second game was closely contested on Sunday. Saina took off from where she left in the first game and built a handy 6-2 lead but Carolina crawled her way back to make it 4-6. Saina still managed to hold on to her slender lead and at the break, she led 11-9.
After the break, Carolina played like a hurt tigress and pinned Saina on the back court for most of the time. For the first time in the match, Carolina went ahead 12-11 winning rallies with whiplash smashes and fine drop shots. Saina made errors at the net as the momentum shifted towards the Spaniard. Marin lead 17-13 and looked like a world champion. Carolina closed the game 21-14, Saina clearly tiring out at the end despite massive support from the stands.
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London Olympics bronze medallist Saina barely produced her first game form in the decider. She looked defensive and made errors at the net and at the back of the court. Carolina upped the ante as she scored points with both cross-court and down-the-line smashes. Saina clearly looked tired as Carolina took the break 11-4.
The six-point cushion was like tonic to the 21-year-old Carolina. She peaked at the right moment as Saina threw in the towel very easily losing the game 21-7. It was quite an anti-climax for the 24-year-old Indian, who was far more experienced than her rival.