Saina, Ying fall by wayside

Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in action against India's Kidambi Srikanth during the Dubai World Superseries Finals at Hamdan Sports Complex on Friday.

Defending champion Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei reserved her best for the final match of Group A in the women's singles when she played brilliantly to oust poster girl Saina Nehwal of India 16-21, 21-18, 21-14 in the $1 million MetLife Dubai BWF World Superseries Finals at the Hamdan Sports Complex on Friday night.
Needing to win the day's feature match for a semis berth, Saina kept her large following here in a festive mood with her ruthlessly efficient game in set one, but Tai brought out some breathtaking net shots and disguised half smashes to unsettle her Indian opponent thereafter. The head-to-head standing between the two is 6-5 now, in Tai's favour.
"Clearly I was still under the effects of the tough match against Carolina (Marin) on Thursday night and playing against the highly skilled Tai was another proposition, considering my physical condition," said Saina, "Actually after my loss to Nozomi in my first outing, I did not expect to be in the running for the semis."
Tai said: "I went out to play not bothered about where I stood in the chance list for the semis. It's the usual way I play, without trying to pile on pressure unnecessarily. Playing with a lot of variety in my shots and deep returns are enjoyable to experiment and maybe the best way to enjoy the sport. Both Saina and I had injury problems, but her mistakes early in the third set gave me the win."
Group B toppers Wang Yihan (China) and Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand), and Group A's Nozomi Okuhara (Japan) and world champion Carolina Marin (Spain) now move into the semis of the women's championship. World champion and the top seed here, Carolina, edged Saina on account of a superior game difference after the duo finished their engagements in the pool with 1 win and 2 losses records. Tai too had a similar standing but her game average was far lower.
In the men's tournament, Chen Long marched ahead into the last four stage with a 3-0 standing in Group A along with Denmark's Jan O Jorgensen (2-1).
In Group B of the men's event, second seed Kento Momota of Japan with his impressive 3-0 record and promising Danish star Viktor Axelsen (2-1) made it to the semifinals. The draw of the actual timings and the schedule of semifinal clashes were to take place at the end of the day's programme late on Friday night.
Chen defeated Jorgensen 21-14, 21-17 inside 45 minutes where only the added weight of Chen's super smashes and control from the midcourt gave him the big points in both sets.
Momota beat Axelsen 19-21, 21-15, 21-15 in an hour's time as the duo played contrasting styles. The Japanese champion had to bring out sharp half smashes and well angled net drops to keep the powerful and big built Axelsen confined to the second berth in the pool. Impressive Nozomi outplayed an error prone Carolina 21-9, 21-15 in women's Group A action on Friday, and the Spaniard had to wait anxiously for another hour before she came to know of her horoscope regarding the semifinals.
Ratchanok, former world champ, defeated China's Wang Shixian 21-14, 21-19 in Group B's final match to clinch her semis slot. Carolina crashed to her second straight defeat in Group A when the Japanese 21-year old Nozomi kept the Spaniard pinned down for 46 minutes, often catching her wrong footed with quick direction changing cross court returns. At the net which Carolina normally is quite good at these days, saw the fast moving Nozomi who is not just a one-trade rising women's star from Japan come out with counter punches and deeply sliced drops in front before going down 9-21, 15-21.
"The match today was on the same lines for me where unforced errors became common. I would say the loss to Saina on Thursday night had something to do with my performance today (Friday)," said Carolina. In the Hong Kong Open final late in November, Nozomi, who is recovering from injuries in her short but impressive career, lost in a three-setter to Carolina.
"My game is going well with the slower shuttles and the minimum of draft in the hall. I have not changed or tried to alter my approach because the playing conditions and the big
Earlier veteran doubles exponent Zhao Yunlei had to withdraw with a knee injury thus preventing her two partners - Tian Qing and Zhang Nan - from further progress here this time.
moni@khaleejtimes.com