Wuhan (China): Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal once again faltered at the semifinal stage as she suffered a straight game defeat at the hands of China's Wang Yihan in the women's singles event to draw curtains on Indian challenge at the Asia Badminton Championships here on Saturday.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina, who was trailing 4-10 in head-to-head battle against Yihan, once again failed to find a way to outmanoeuvre the sixth seed Chinese opponent, going down 16-21, 14-21 in a contest that lasted 41 minutes.
Earlier this year, the world number eighth Indian had made semifinal finishes in the Swiss Grand Prix Gold, India Super Series and Malaysia Super Series Premier Open before skipping the Singapore Open this month.
Saina failed to capitalise on a 9-6 advantage in the opening game as she struggled to keep up the pace with her rival throughout before losing the game.
