press trust of india
New Delhi, March 28: Crowned the World No.1, Saina Nehwal celebrated her numero uno status with a straight-game demolition of Japanese Yui Hashimoto to reach her maiden final of the USD 2,75,000 India Super Series at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here Saturday.
Saina became the World No. 1 even before she took the court for the semifinals after her closest competitor Carolina Marin of Spain lost in the other last four match against Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon. The Thai girl won 21-19, 21-23, 22-20.
Saina was completely dominant against the Japanese and won 21-15, 21-11 in a match that lasted for 43 minutes to set up a title clash with Intanon.
“It is a dream come true. I can’t even believe that I have become the World No. 1. I guess till the time I see my name there myself I won’t be able to believe it. It has been a long journey,” Saina said after her match.
“I want to thank Vimal (Kumar) sir, my parents for the success. Vimal sir had told me that I will be No. 1 by May. I can’t still believe it,” Saina added. Strangely enough, Saina did not mention the name of her former mentor Pullela Gopichand even once during her tete-a-tete with reporters.
Once on the court, Saina played like a champion as she dominated the long rallies with her repertoire of strokes and pushed the Japanese to commit mistakes.
Egged on by a vociferous weekend crowd, Saina lead 11-8 at the break. The Indian continued her dominating run after the interval, using her drops, deep returns and accurate to extend the lead to 18-12. Saina lost a few points due to service fault and a couple of miscued shots, before grabbing the first game courtesy two unforced errors by her opponent.
The change of sides didn’t change Hashimoto’s fate much as she continued with her unforced errors, hitting wide and long and faltering at the nets to allow Saina to zoom to a 11-2 lead with a delicate net shot that found the Japanese napping.
The loud cheers of ‘jitega bhai jitega India jitega’ continued to reverberate within the stadium as Saina built her lead to 20-6. Hashimoto, however, was not ready to give up however and saved five match points before Saina completed the demolition with a delicate push at the net.
