press trust of india
New Delhi, March 29: Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth clinched the women’s and men’s India Open Super Series badminton titles with dominating victories here Sunday at the Siri Fort Complex courts.
In the women’s final Saina defeated Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand 21-16, 21-14 in a battle that kept the crowd hooked from the first point to the last. In the men’s summit clash World No. 4 Srikanth after sharing the first two games with Danish player Viktor Axelsen, won the third easily to emerge a 18-21, 21-13, 21-12 winner.
Coming into the match with a 5-3 overall advantage over her rival, Saina was not tested much as the Indian was prepared for Intanon’s deceptive game. Saina encountered her rival with her better movements and powerful and accurate smashes to eventually wrest her second title of the season.
The girl from Hyderabad, who has been on a roll ever since her victory at the China Open, played like a champion as she anticipated her opponent’s moves and caught her on the wrong foot during
rallies on most occasions.
The deafening cheers of the near-packed house who chanted ‘India India’ and ‘let’s go Saina, lets go’, seemed also to disrupt Intanon’s concentration as nothing went right for her in the match.
Saina used her powerful smashes and rode on her opponent’s unforced errors to lead 11-5 early on in the first game. She was up for the deceptive drops and half-smashes with which Intanon used to trouble the Indian in the past.
After the break, Intanon gave a glimpse of her mettle as she engaged in long rallies with the Indian and with her dribbles narrowed the gap to 10-12.
However, Saina didn’t allow the Thai to threaten her as she anticipated well and retrieved everything that was thrown at her end. She closed the points with a smash whenever there was a chance. She quickly built a lead of 20-12. Intanon saved four game points before Saina sealed the opening game when the Thai girl hit long.
The change of side didn’t alter anything as Saina once again rushed to a 5-0 lead. Intanon gained a few points with her half-smashes and deceptive strokes but the Indian still managed to zoom into the break with a 11-6 lead. She increased it to 17-11 and then 18-14 before finally closing out the match when Inanton hit long.
