ID :
15790
Wed, 08/13/2008 - 18:42
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http://m.oananews.org//node/15790
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Saina sizzles before fizzling out
Beijing, Aug 13 (PTI) Saina Nehwal of India could not stem the
slew of unforced errors flowing from her racquet and squandered an eight-point lead in the decider to crash out of badminton women's singles event despite dominating a major part of the quarterfinal at the Olympics here Wednesday.
Saina won an edge-of-the-seat first game before her Indonesia counterpart Maria Kristin Yulianti drew parity to stretch the match to decider and the Indian, despite leading 11-3 at one stage, eventually went down 28-26, 14-21, 21-15 in just about an hour to bow out after an impressive show in her maiden Olympics.
The first game saw an intense battle between Saina and Maria with the Indonesian surging ahead before Saina won seven points on the trot to snatch the lead and eventually the game.
The toil, however, took a toll on Saina's verve and the Indian looked slightly jaded in the second game, allowing Maria to score seven points in a row to take a lead, which the Indonesian never lost.
With everything hinging on the third game, the pressure was on both the shuttlers. Inevitably, unforced errors flowed and all that mattered was who could keep it to the minimum.
Saina stepped on the gas and raced to an 11-3 lead before her world came crashing down. Tired legs and erroneous judgment unhinged Saina's gameplan and Maria won 15 of the next 16 points to snatch the lead to the point of being unassailable.
Dejected after allowing the match slip through her fingers, Saina just went through the motions, completely devastated to have come so close to make it to the semifinals, only to fall by the wayside.
"I made a lot of mistakes and erred in judging the shuttle. In the third game, I was dog tired," Saina lamented.
Asked what went wrong in the third game, Saina said, "I could not read the drift once I changed sides. On many occasions, I expected her shuttle to land outside and left it only to see it land inside. I just could not read that.
"That also explains why I knocked a few shots wide and long," she added.
Asked if the eight-point lead in the decider made her complacent, Saina said, "Not at all. In fact I was not thinking about winning at all. I was just playing my game. Even at match points you cannot take it for granted.
"The match changed course so fast in the third game that I lost confidence. Then I was quite tired too and all combined to my defeat.
"I'm both happy and sad to have come this far and still lose a match despite dominating it. It was my match and I should have won it," she said.
Her opponent too felt Saina probably exhausted herself in the first two games and hence could not maintain the tempo.
"She was attacking all the time. So I had to be patient. Towards the end, it looked like she was rushing her shots," the Indonesian said.
slew of unforced errors flowing from her racquet and squandered an eight-point lead in the decider to crash out of badminton women's singles event despite dominating a major part of the quarterfinal at the Olympics here Wednesday.
Saina won an edge-of-the-seat first game before her Indonesia counterpart Maria Kristin Yulianti drew parity to stretch the match to decider and the Indian, despite leading 11-3 at one stage, eventually went down 28-26, 14-21, 21-15 in just about an hour to bow out after an impressive show in her maiden Olympics.
The first game saw an intense battle between Saina and Maria with the Indonesian surging ahead before Saina won seven points on the trot to snatch the lead and eventually the game.
The toil, however, took a toll on Saina's verve and the Indian looked slightly jaded in the second game, allowing Maria to score seven points in a row to take a lead, which the Indonesian never lost.
With everything hinging on the third game, the pressure was on both the shuttlers. Inevitably, unforced errors flowed and all that mattered was who could keep it to the minimum.
Saina stepped on the gas and raced to an 11-3 lead before her world came crashing down. Tired legs and erroneous judgment unhinged Saina's gameplan and Maria won 15 of the next 16 points to snatch the lead to the point of being unassailable.
Dejected after allowing the match slip through her fingers, Saina just went through the motions, completely devastated to have come so close to make it to the semifinals, only to fall by the wayside.
"I made a lot of mistakes and erred in judging the shuttle. In the third game, I was dog tired," Saina lamented.
Asked what went wrong in the third game, Saina said, "I could not read the drift once I changed sides. On many occasions, I expected her shuttle to land outside and left it only to see it land inside. I just could not read that.
"That also explains why I knocked a few shots wide and long," she added.
Asked if the eight-point lead in the decider made her complacent, Saina said, "Not at all. In fact I was not thinking about winning at all. I was just playing my game. Even at match points you cannot take it for granted.
"The match changed course so fast in the third game that I lost confidence. Then I was quite tired too and all combined to my defeat.
"I'm both happy and sad to have come this far and still lose a match despite dominating it. It was my match and I should have won it," she said.
Her opponent too felt Saina probably exhausted herself in the first two games and hence could not maintain the tempo.
"She was attacking all the time. So I had to be patient. Towards the end, it looked like she was rushing her shots," the Indonesian said.
