Saina Nehwal vs Akane Yamaguchi, Live Badminton Score and Updates, French Open Super Series 2017 Second Round

But the Indian title hope still remains. PV Sindhu and Srikanth Kidambi will be in action later in the day.

Follow Sindhu's match LIVE HERE and Srikanth's match LIVE HERE:

That was a great fightback from Nehwal towards the end of that second game. She even held a game point. Unfortunately, mistakes crept up in her game right when she needed to be flawless.

That said, credit to Yamaguchi for playing a brilliant match and for holding her nerves even when the going got tough in the second game.

Final score: Yamaguchi def Nehwal, 21-9, 23-21 in 39 minutes.

This time, Akane converts! 23-21

Saina's shot is blocked by the net...second match point for Akane..22-21

AND SAINA SAVES!!!!!!

21-21

Match point for Akane as Saina fumbles at the net.

This time Saina missed the line after a brilliant rally...20-20

GAME POINT FOR SAINA....20-19

Saina finds the line.....19-19

18-19 now

She gets one back...17-19

Can Saina come up with some magic at the last minute?

It's 19-16 for Akane now.

The Japanese is smartly moving Saina to the back of the court and while she is pinned there, Akane is coming up to the net to finish the point.

Saina has reduced the deficit once again...16-17

Nehwal now trails by 2 points....15-17

Akane's drops keep coming out of nowhere and they are troubling Saina.....Akane leads 17-14

And once more, Akane does not allow her build on her momentum and inches ahead to 16-14

Again, Saina bags a couple of points to make it 14-15

The 5th seed is now up 15-12

But the errors do keep showing up in her urgency to win points....Akane goes up to 14-12

A lot more aggression from Saina now and it has paid off...she now trails 12-13

The Japanese stops her there and extends her lead to 13-10

She pulls back yet another...10-12

One good smash from the Indian....9-12

It's still a four-point advantage for Akane...up 12-8

11-7 for the Japanese at the mid-game interval.

Unfazed, Akane still manages to widen the gap between them and now leads 10-7

But the Indian has taken the next two points and now trails 7-8

Yamaguchi has been lethal at the net as usual and Saina is struggling to read her shots.

The Japanese now up 8-5

7-5 is the lead for the 5th seed now

Akane is magically finding all the lines! She goes up to 6-4

Yamaguchi inches ahead to 5-4

And they are all level at 4-4 now

Saina pulls one back as Akane struggles at the net...3-4

Saina's errors are undoing her good work....the lead goes back to Akane....3-2

All even at 2-2

Saina leads 2-1...she is moving much better now.

SECOND GAME

First point to Saina

Yamaguchi takes the first game, 21-9

It's a TEN-POINT advantage for Yamaguchi now...19-9

17-9 is the lead for Yamaguchi now...she is looking strong

Saina is still having trouble with anticipating Akane's shots.....the Japanese is ahead 15-9

She pulls back another one....9-13

A good drop from Saina...8-13

Saina is now trying to move Akane all over the court but the fifth seed has all the answers.....12-7

Yamaguchi has sailed to an 11-7 lead at half-time.

Two more points for the Indian....she makes it 7-9

Akane halts her comeback and has once more built a huge lead of four points...she leads 9-5

Saina Nehwal vs Akane Yamaguchi, Live Badminton Score and Updates, French Open Super Series 2017 Second Round

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