SAINA NEHWAL gave her all before succumbing to nemesis and world number one Tai Tzu Ying at the Denmark Open final in Odense last Sunday (21).
In an exciting but energy- sapping 52-minute final, Nehwal lost 13-21, 21-13, 6-21 to the superior Chinese Taipei rival. This was Nehwal’s fifth straight defeat to Tzu Ying this year.
The top seed Taipei player meant business from the start as she dictated the pace to race to a 6-1 lead.
She never let the Indian opponent have the advantage once as she led 11-6 and pocketed the first game in just 15 minutes. But the world number 10 Indian, who was unseeded,
came out all guns blazing in the second game.
Nehwal was ahead 11-5 at the break and then went on to win the game 21-13 to
draw parity.
Unforced errors returned to haunt Nehwal in the third game as she was guilty of finding the net and hitting wide on numerous occasions.
Tzu Ying took a seven point lead at 9-2 and cruised to the title.
