Saina Nehwal continued her rampaging run to storm into the semifinals of the BWF world super series final, clinching a pulsating three-game thriller against Bae Yeon Ju of Korea here on Friday.
The world No. 4, a 2011 finalist, bounced back from a game down to notch up a 15-21, 21-7, 21-17 win over Bae, ranked eighth, in the third and final women’s singles round-robin match to top Group A.
Saina brought a sort of new-found aggression to her game as she didn’t shy away from attacking the net and tried to dictate the rallies, pushing Bae to commit errors. The Indian’s gameplan worked and she took a 10-4 lead.
The Korean grabbed two points at the net and followed it up with a brilliant drop-shot to narrow the gap. Saina’s deceiving return found Bae napping and she led 11-8 at the break.
After the breather, Bae tightened her defence and dug deep in the rallies. She forced the Indian to commit errors, and not only clawed her way back to 14-all, but also won the game when Saina hit wide.
In the second game, Saina once again lead 6-2 early on. She cut down on her smashes and tried to look for easy points.
Bae, meanwhile, played some exceptional shots to level the game at 6-all, but also committed a few unforced errors to allow the Indian to reel off five straight points and lead 11-6 at the interval.
32-shot rally
Leading 12-6, the duo was engaged in a gruelling 32-shot rally, with Saina having the last laugh. She continued her dominance after the break, playing patiently to bag 15 of the last 16 points.
In the decider, Bae surged ahead to a 5-1 lead. Saina responded by bringing out her power smash to break the streak, and then finished a long rally with a winner at the net.
Both players tried to outdo each other, but the Korean entered the interval with a slender 11-10 lead.
In a battle of attrition, Saina managed to open up a narrow lead of 15-13, courtesy her never-say-die attitude and brilliant net play. The Korean hit one wide and Saina then grabbed another point to lead 17-13. The Korean made it 16-19.
Saina, however, didn’t delay the inevitable as she produced two smashes to shut the door on the Korean.