Swiss Open : Prannoy advances to final; Saina crashes out
H S Prannoy entered the final of the Swiss Open ousting Tzu Wei Wang after saving three match points in a cliffhanger of an encounter today. However, Saina Nehwal, who has slumped to No. 6 in the world rankings, continued her downward trend losing to Wang Yihan of China in straight sets.
H S Prannoy took on Tzu Wei Wang in the men's semifinal. Prannoy looked completely out of touch in the first set – the closest he stayed to Wang was for the first two points trailing 1-2. After that he lost his steam and went down 2-8, before eventually losing the set 12-21. The second set was a closer affair as both the players went in lockstep until 12-11. Prannoy then broke through to take the set at 21-14.
In the decider, the pattern continued as both matched each other blow for blow until 9-9. The players erased each other's three-point leads to go 15-15. After 17-17, it was Wang who broke through to reach game point at 20-18. But Prannoy fought back to draw par at 20-20, and again at 21-21 before wresting the next two points to win the set 23-21 and reach the final.
Saina, who has been on the comeback trail, faced her old nemesis Wang Yihan against whom she once held an abysmal 0-8 record. The trend had been broken after Saina won four straight matches, but the Hyderabad lass has been struggling after the return.
In the first set, she trailed 3-16 at one point, before losing the set 11-21. The second set appeared to follow the same trend as she was lagging at 1-5 and 5-11, but Saina staged a remarkable comeback to close the gap with six straight points and then took the lead at 15-14. However, she stumbled eventually to lose the second set 19-21 and crash out of the tournament.
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