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Asia Badminton C'ship: Saina Nehwal falters to fourth straight semis defeat

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ByAmlan Majumdar, SportsCafe Editor

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Fifth-seed Wang Yihan got the better of her long-term rival Saina Nehwal 21-16, 21-14 in the semi-final of the Asia Badminton Championship at Wuhan on Saturday.This is the second time in a row that Wang Yihan has knocked her out in the semis, after the Indian lost out to her in the Swiss Open also.

This was the 15th meeting between Wang Yihan and Saina Nehwal, and the Chinese shuttler has now extended her lead to 11-4 in the head-to-head stats between them. The last time these two faced each other was in the Swiss Open semi-final, where Saina lost 11-21, 19-21.

The Indian kept pace with her opponent till 10-10 in the first game, but the Chinese shuttler upped her game from there and won the opening game  21-16. The second game turned out to be a one-sided affair as Wang Yihan raced to a 20-9 lead. Saina did show some fight to win five points in a row, but the gap was too much for her to make up. Eventually, Wang Yihan won the second game 21-14, and with it the match to seal her place in the final.

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