Birmingham: Saina Nehwal’s dismal run against nemesis Tai Tzu-Ying continued as she suffered yet another defeat against the Taiwanese to crash out of the $1 million All England Championship here on Friday.
A former finalist, Saina couldn’t find answers to the deceptive strokeplay of the World No. 1 Taiwanese, going down 15-21, 19-21 in the 37-minute quarterfinal clash.
“I had my chances but I got tied up in the last two points,” said the 28-year-old from Hyderabad.
“My coach was saying ‘make it slower’, but when you are on the edge of winning a game you tend to get a little more hurried up and I made that mistake again, it cost me the second set,” she explained.
“I’m happy that I’m getting closer to the top players. I’ve not been sleeping because of the pain I’ve been having in my stomach (due to diarrhea), but I’m really happy that I could play two matches here,” she added.
Saina is now 5-15 in head-to-head career record with Tzu-Ying and it was her 13th straight defeat against the Taiwanese, who has not lost to the Indian since 2015.
