Every match is important for Saina at this stage as she needs to get back the feel of high-level competition again. She might be struggling and it is not unexpected given she is recovering from a surgery but as the matches wear on, she is also getting back her fighting spirit. And that is so good to see!
Saina Nehwal thus moves into the quarter-finals where she faces World No. 224 Zhang Yiman of China.
Full score: 17-21, 21-18, 21-12
SAINA TAKES THE THIRD GAME 21-12 AND WINS THE MATCH!!!!!!!
And she has EIGHT MATCH POINTS AT 20-12
She is 2 points away from the win at 19-12 now!!!!!
Saina is nearing victory! Up ahead 18-12 now!!
Another point for the lower-ranked player who is now 12-17
A long rally goes to Ayustine who trails 11-17 now
The Indian is now 7 points ahead at 17-10
Ayustine takes a point for 10-15
And extends it to 15-9
Nehwal inches ahead to 14-9
Post-break, Saina still has the advantage at 12-9.
At half-time, Nehwal is ahead 11-8.
The World No. 50 now trails 8-10
And Nehwal has gone up 10-7.
Ayustine takes a point to close in on 7-9
Saina goes up 9-6 now
She still has a 2-point lead at 8-6
Can she run away with the game now much like she did in the first half of the 2nd game?
And she extends it to 7-5
Saina has taken a slim lead of 6-5 here
And they are locked at 5-5 now!!
Hard-fought game already and Saina not giving up! She has come back for 4-4
Ayustine nudges ahead to 4-2.
And the Indonesian accelerates to 3-1 now
Saina makes it 1-1 through some clever shotmaking
GAME 3
Ayustine has jumped to 1-0
Saina now needs to be careful not to concede an early string of errors.
Saina levels it by taking the second game 21-18
And she has TWO GAME POINTS at 20-18
But Saina has applied brakes to the Indonesian's momentum and has gone ahead to 19-18
And Ayustine has levelled it at 18-18
It's a looong rally which goes in favour of Ayustine. She now trails 16-18
Ayustine closing in through some splendid defence! She now trails 15-18
And the Indian surges ahead to 18-12
6-point lead for Saina!!!! She is up 17-11.
And she extends it to 16-11 presently.
Nehwal now up 15-10
Once more, Ayustine manages to cut down the big lead for just a 4-point gap. Saina up 14-10.
5-point lead for Nehwal. She is up 14-9
Saina's defensive skills are on point today! She is up 13-8
Saina needs to be careful here. Ayustine has come within 8-12 now.
Rallies are getting longer and grittier now. The pace of the match has slowed down post-break. But Saina still has a healthy lead of 12-6
But the Indian has wrested control again for 12-4
After the break, Ayustine stops Saina's march for 4-11.
11 points in a row for Saina from 0-3 down! That was FANTASTIC!!!
Saina takes an 11-3 lead at half-time
And that's it from us, friends! Hope you enjoyed our live coverage. We shall be back tomorrow with the live coverage of Saina Nehwal's quarter-final match. Goodbye and have a great day.