Badminton Asia Championship: Saina Nehwal loses to Yihan Wang; semi-final jinx continues

Wuhan, China: Indian challenge ended at the Asian Badminton Championship after Saina Nehwal suffered a straight-game defeat against local favourite Yihan Wang in the semifinals of women’s singles, in Wuhan on Saturday. Olympic bronze medallist Saina lost 16-21 14-21 to sixth seed Wang in a 41-minute match to registered her 11th defeat against the Chinese. [caption id=“attachment_2719660” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Saina Nehwal. AFP[/caption] It was yet another semifinal finish for the World No. 8 Indian, having made it to the final four in the Swiss Grand Prix Gold, India Super Series and Malaysia Super Series Premier Open earlier in the year. Saina was leading 3-0 in the beginning and despite a challenge from Wang, she managed to hang on to a 9-6 lead before the Chinese turned the tables and marched ahead after the interval, and then never looked back. In the second game, Wang dished out a dominating performance as she opened up a 5-0 lead and continued to surge ahead even as Saina’s game crumbled. This was the last tournament before the Olympic qualification deadline of May 3rd.