Saina fights her way into Round 2

Jakarta, may 31 

Saina Nehwal staved off a stiff challenge from Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei to make a positive start to her campaign at the $900,000 Indonesia Super Series Premier badminton tournament here today. 

Saina recovered from a mid-game slump to register a 21-11 19-21 21-15 win over world No. 23 Pai Yu Po in a match that lasted 63 minutes. The world No. 8 will next take on Indonesian Fitriani Fitriani tomorrow.

Looking for her maiden title of the season, Saina had to fight for each point as Pai put up a good show. She didn’t let Saina open up a big lead until the Indian, at 14-11, reeled off seven straight points to grab the opening game. In the second game, Saina opened up a 10-5 lead but Pai won the next seven points to go up 12-10. Saina tried to wrest the initiative back, but Pai thwarted all her attempts and won the game 21-19.

In the decider, Saina raced to an 11-5 lead but Pai caught up with her at 13-13. This time, though, Saina didn’t lose focus and closed the game and match at 21-15. In the mixed doubles, however, India suffered a setback as Manu Attri and Ashwini Ponnappa went down 14-21 25-27 to Singapore’s Yong Kai Terry Hee and Wei Han Tan in a 30-minute match. – PTI