Indonesian Open: Saina Nehwal knocked out in the quarter finals

IANS
Saina Nehwal

Jakarta, June 20 (IANS) India's top ranked shuttler Saina Nehwal bowed out of the Indonesian Open after losing in the quarter-finals against top seed Li Xuerui of China at the Gelora Bung Karno sports complex here Friday.

Saina, who was seeded eighth, put on a tough fight but went down 20-22, 15-21 to Xuerui. The Indian now has a 2-7 win-loss record against her Chinese opponent.

The first game was an extremely close battle as they were tied at 5-5 early on, but the Chinese showed her class and quickly opened up a 10-6 lead. Saina showed no signs of giving up and won five consecutive points to take lead at 11-10. From then, it was a thrilling battle that saw Xuerui gaining the upperhand.

Xuerui was in complete control of the proceedings in the second game as she quickly took a lead of 10-4. Saina tried to catch up, but lost the game 15-21.

Xuerui will face unseeded Thai girl Nichaon Jindapon in the semi finals, who won 17-21, 21-14, 22-20 against sixth seed Yeon Ju Bae of South Korea.

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