Saina Nehwal Bows out of Malaysia Open Badminton

Saina Nehwal has lost in the semifinals of the Malaysia Open badminton championship. The world No. 1 Indian went down to tournament top seed Li Xuerui of China  21-13, 17-21, 20-22 in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. The match lasted 67 minutes and both players dished out some fabulous badminton before Li held her nerves in a tantalizing final game.

Li will play All England champion Carolina Marin, who defeated second seed Wang Shixian of China 21-17, 24-22 in the other semifinal.

Saina made a good start winning the first game but the Olympic champion bounced back in the second. Li won 21-17, forcing the decider in a tensely contested encounter. It was sweet revenge for Li, who lost her world No. 1 ranking to Saina last week.

The final game was marked by pauses as the Chinese seemed to tire out early. Li slowed down the pace of the match apparently due to a wobbly right knee. Saina had a four-point lead (11-7) at the change-over.

Li returned stronger after the players switched sides. She played longer rallies and made Saina do all the legwork with fine placements and greater control at the net. The Chinese bridged the gap by winning five points on the trot and it was anybody's match from 12-12.

It went neck-and neck with players taking another break at 15-15. Saina won a big point at 16-15 and an error let Li make it 16-16. The Chinese made a costly service error at 17-18, but Saina also made a silly judgement at the net 18-18.

Every point was hotly contested and with both players running out of their three each TV challenges, it was left to the line judges. The players were locked 20-20 as Saina held her nerve with Li forcing two match point opportunities, converting the second and winning 22-20.