Saina tries but fails to go past Tai, settles for silver

Odense (Denmark), October 21

Saina Nehwal gave her all before losing steam as the ace Indian shuttler succumbed to her nemesis and world No.1 Tai Tzu Ying yet again to finish second best at the Denmark Open here today. 

In an exciting but energy-sapping 52-minute final, Saina lost 13-21 21-13 6-21 to her Chinese Taipei rival. This was Saina’s 11th straight defeat against Tai; five of them have come this year. The head-to-head record between the two now stands at 13-5 in favour of the Chinese Taipei shuttler.

The top seed Taipei player started on an aggressive note, and raced to a 6-1 lead. She engaged Saina in long rallies to tire her out. Saina couldn’t catch up with her even once and lost the first game in 15 minutes.

Saina fights back

The world No. 10 Indian, however, came out all guns blazing in the second game. Saina’s attacking approach worked wonders as she dominated the second game. Riding on booming crosscourt smashes and some indecisiveness from Tai, Saina led 11-5 at the break and then went on to win the game 21-13 to draw parity.

Saina, however, failed to sustain the momentum in the decider; she looked tired as Tai once again engaged her in long rallies. She made several unforced errors, finding the net and hitting wide on numerous occasions.  Tai, on the other hand, was on top of her game and soon walked away with the game and the match. — PTI

Tai’s 11 wins in a row

Tai Tzu Ying today beat Saina Nehwal for the 11th time in a row! Tai now has a 13-5 head-to-head record against Saina. 

• 2013:  The last time Saina beat Tai, at Swiss Open on 15-3-2013. Saina had won 21-11 21-12
• 2015 : The last time Saina took a game off Tai, at Dubai World Superseries Finals on 11-12-2015. Tai had won 16-21, 21-18, 21-14. After that Saina had lost six consecutive matches in straight games