Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal crashed out of the China Super Series after going down to Chinese qualifier Xia Jingyun in the second-round of the women’s singles event in Shanghai.
The seventh-seed Indian squandered a first game lead to lose 21-17, 8-21, 13-21 to Xie in a 52-minute battle.
Compatriot Arvind Bhat also became a second-round casualty after suffering a straight game defeat against Indonesian Dwi Kuncoro Sony in the men’s singles event.
Arvind lost 15-21, 16-21 against the eighth seed Indonesian in a 39-minute battle.
Xia was clearly the better player on the day as she gathered nine points against Saina’s five. Even in the nets, Saina managed just 12 points compared to Xie’s 20.
In the first game, Saina opened a 2-0 lead and although the Chinese drew parity six times, the Hyderabadi girl was able to hold on to the game. However, Xie raised her game in the second and pushed Saina on the backfoot.
The Chinese first took a 2-0 lead and kept herself adrift of Saina, who was forced to do the catching up act as Xia from 15-8 down, pocketed six straight points to seal the game.
The decider was no different as the unheralded Chinese kept stepping up the gas and after a 6-4 lead romped home comfortably and shut the door on Saina’s face.
