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Indian shuttle queen Saina Nehwal was crowned the champion in the most unforeseen circumstances after the reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin retired due to a mid-match injury she sustained during the final at the Daihatsu Indonesia Masters 2019 in Jakarta, Indonesia on Sunday.
A week after losing to the Spanish southpaw in the semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters, the Indian superstar had an uphill task in front of her when she faced off against the three-time world champion in the summit clash. It looked to be heading the same way for Marin made a blazing start to the final.
With her attacking game being on point, the Spaniard opened up a 3-0 lead in no time. After taking a point through some brilliant display at the net, the Indian former World No. 1 tried to engage Marin in long rallies with the hope that she will break down.
It did not help much for Marin started dominating even intense 24-shot rallies to advance to 7-2. It was after she went up to 9-3 and started looking lethal as ever, that injury struck the former top-ranked player.
While moving to her forehand side to retrieve a shot, she landed awkwardly on her right leg and looked to have twisted the knee. A teary-eyed Marin immediately stopped play and began grimacing in pain.
It looked unsure how long she would be able to continue playing. The Braveheart gave it one last try and played a couple of points to inch ahead to 10-4. That is where she had to call it quits before crying profusely as she walked back gingerly to the locker room.
With Marin’s retirement, Nehwal was declared the winner. This was the first BWF title for the Commonwealth Games champion in two years and her fourth in Indonesia which has always been a happy hunting ground for her.
