Saina Nehwal Bows Out of BWF Superseries Finals Tournament After Losing to Tai Tzu Ying

India's Saina Nehwal lost her third and final round-robin game to defending champion Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei 21-16, 18-21, 14-21 to bow out of contention for the semi-finals of the BWF Superseries Finals. (Latest Badminton News)

Saina, who had lost her opening match to Japan's Nozomi Okuhara 14-21, 6-21, bounced back in style to defeat world champion Carolina Marin to keep her hopes alive.

She started off in positive style against defending champion Ying by racing to 5-3 lead in the first game but the Chinese Taipei player bounced back to level the game 9-9. However, Saina maintained the intensity and raced ahead to a 20-13 lead before closing the first game 21-16.

In the second game, Ying regained her composure and raced to a 13-6 lead. Saina rallied back and she levelled the game at 16-16. However, Ying held her nerve and played the crucial moments well to seal the second game 21-18.

In the third game, Ying raced away to a 9-4 lead as Saina struggled with her fitness and loss in momentum. She hung in but the game drifted away and Ying sealed the game 21-14. With this loss, Saina's 2015 has ended on a disappointing note.

Saina has been plagued by fitness issues in this tournament, having admitted that she has not been able to train since injuring an achilles tendon three weeks ago.