Saina Nehwal Crashes Out of Indonesia Open After Losing World No. 1 Ranking

Saina Nehwal bowed out with a quarterfinal loss to familiar foe Wang Shixian in the Indonesian Open Super Series badminton tournament here on Friday.

Saina snatched the momentum quite early as she raced to a 11-5 lead and built on it quite aggressively to clinch the opening game in 30 minutes.

But the experienced Wang roared back in the second game to draw level and make the battle interesting.

Saina had the initial edge in the decider, grabbing a 6-3 lead but Wang did not allow her to run away with it by making it 6-6.

A see-saw battle followed and the two players were locked 8-8 before Saina nosed ahead with a 15-10 lead. However, Wang fought back yet again to draw level at 15-15 and 17-17.

The Chinese star took the lead from there on and held her nerves to outwit the Indian, who has triumphed here in 2009, 2010 and 2012.