Top Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal could not replicate her last week’s China Open title win as she went down in straight games in the women’s singles quarterfinals of the $350,000 Hong Kong Open Super Series in Hong Kong on Friday.
The third seeded Hyderabadi was upset by Chinese Taipei’s sixth seed Tai Tzu Ying 15-21, 19-21 in 39 minutes at the Hong Kong Coliseum. With the win, Tai bettered her career record to 3-5 against the World No.4 Saina.
After getting totally dominated in the first game, Saina came up with a tough fight against the World No.9 in the second. The battle was neck-and-neck till 19-all when Tai held her nerve to win the next two points and bag the game and match.
Saina’s compatriot Kidambi Srikanth, who also won in China Sunday, will play his men’s singles quarterfinals later in the day against local shuttler Wei Nan.
