Hong Kong: Saina Nehwal's poor run continued this season as she crashed out of the women's singles competition after suffering a narrow defeat against Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand in the second round of the Hong Kong Super Series badminton tournament in Kowloon here today.
Seventh seed Saina, who improved a rung in the world rankings today to be sixth, lost 17-21 21-9 15-21 to Porntip, who jumped three places to world number 10, at the Hong Kong Coliseum here.
Ajay Jayaram's campaign in the men's singles competition also came to an end after he went down 18-21 12-21 to Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia in a 36-minute match.
Olympic bronze medallist, Saina, held a 6-0 record against the Thai girl before the match but it counted for little during the 50-minute battle between the two shuttlers.
Saina tried to dominate the nets but Porntip didn't give her too many opportunities. She had all the answers to Saina's smashes, four more than the Indian.
The first game saw Porntip breaking free at 10-10 after Saina had opened up a 7-4 early lead. The Thai girl was better prepared for the battle as she registered five straight points to create a huge gap between her and Saina and then kept her nose ahead to lead 1-0.
In the second game, Saina came back firing on all cylinders and after being locked 4-4 early on, dominated the proceedings completely, accumulating points at will. She reached 10-4 and then moved to 14-6 as Porntip's game crumbled.
In the decider, however, Porntip got her act together and led 3-0 initially. Saina could pose a fight only for the next two points but after that the Thai girl managed to maintain a distance and soon shut the door on the Indian.
Plagued by injuries and inconsistent form, Saina has endured the worst season of her career as she has so far failed to win a single title this year.
Hong Kong Open brings an end to the 12-leg Superseries circuit of the season and Saina will now try her luck in the season-ending BWF Superseries Final which will held in Kuala Lumpur next month.
Saina is ranked second in the Superseries Standings but it will be a tough task as the even will have the top eight shuttlers vying for the top prize money of USD 500,000.
The other Indian in fray, Ajay failed to negotiate the powerful smashes of Sony, who registered as many as 17 smash winners, compared to the Indian's 4.
Though Ajay was better at the nets, it didn't matter in the end. Sony opened up a 4-0 lead early on but the Indian clawed back soon and moved together till 9-9. However, Sony once again surged ahead with six straight points and didn't allow Ajay to come back in the first game.
In the second game, Sony was more dominating as he didn't allow Ajay any chance of a fight and from 8-6, kept extending the lead to eventually close the issue comfortably.
Hectic schedule, fitness issues affected Saina: Gopichand
Hectic schedule, fitness issues affected Saina: Gopichand
Hyderabad: National Coach Pullela Gopichand feels the "hectic" international and domestic schedule has taken a toll on Saina Nehwal's fitness and form this season but exuded confidence that "solid training" will make the Indian ace battle-ready for next year.
The 23-year-old Saina had a poor run this season as she failed to win a single title. Besides a couple of semifinal finishes at All England and Malaysia Open, the Indian has nothing to show this year.
"Definitely, I think it's very obvious that they have not played very well. It has been a tiring year. These results came because fitness levels came down. It has been a hectic season," Gopichand told reporters.
"The results till September have been very good. After that, there has been slight slack in form. I don't think it is a cause of concern. We will get two-three weeks good break and we will have some time to train. I am sure by next season, they should be alright," he said.
Gopichand feels Saina lost a lot of time because of her injury but said she can find her best form with sound training schedule.
"I think it (relatively poor form) happens with all players. She had been in top five (in world rankings) consistently for four to five years. Of course, people will read her. She also knows many of the players, games in and out. It's not necessarily only the reading part. It has also to do with some bit an injury. More importantly, the time which was lost due to injury," he said.
"There is nothing (injury) now. But, the time we have lost, she has not been really able to train for that good four to five weeks of solid training. Without that base, you cannot get it at the highest level. You want to protect your ranking, you don't want to slip too far, so you tend to play too many and that hurts you in the end," he added.Observing that some of the very important tournaments like Asian Games and Commonwealth Games are scheduled to be held next year, Gopichand said they need to plan for the big events effectively.
"The big matches are next year. Asian Games, Commonwealth are the big tournaments. Coming back after the Olympics this year, was going to be a tough year anyway for Saina. We will need to go back to the drawing board, plan the entire schedule correctly," he said.
The 40-year-old said Saina is still young and she can play for at least another four-five years and win some big titles.
"She has it in her to continue playing for at least four to five years. I do expect her (to be) in her fitness, best frame of mind. She is capable of winning the best tournaments," he said.
Saina, who had been in top five in world rankings for several years, slipped to sixth place following a string of defeats at international tournaments in recent times.
Troubled by injuries and inconsistent form, Saina failed to defend her titles at Indonesia, Denmark, Switzerland and Thailand and also suffered an early exit from many tournaments in the last couple of months.
The Olympic Bronze medallist today crashed out of the Hong Kong Open, which brings an end to the 12-leg Superseries circuit of the season. The Indian will now try her luck in the season-ending BWF Superseries Final which will held in Kuala Lumpur next month.
