Press Trust of India
Dubai, Dec 9: Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, had a disappointing start to their campaign at the BWF Super Series Finals as they suffered straight-game defeats on the opening day of the prestigious event here Wednesday.
World No. 2 Saina seemed to struggle with her ankle injury as she went down 14-21, 6-21 against Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara in a women’s singles match which lasted 35 minutes. She will next play World No. 1 Carolina Marin in another Group A match, Thursday.
World No. 9 Kidambi Srikanth suffered a 13-21, 13-21 loss against Japan’s Kento Momota in a men’s singles Group B match at the Hamdan Sports Complex here. The 22-year-old Indian will next face Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.
Saina, who came into the match with a 4-0 head-to-head record against Okuhara, with two of the wins coming this year at Asian Championship and China Open, could not play her best game as her ankle injury restricted her on-court movement.
Okuhara zoomed to a 5-1 lead early on but Saina soon engaged her rival in long rallies using her tosses and drops and also judged the shuttle well in these conditions to claw back at 8-8. She briefly led 11-10, but then slowly she faded away from the match.
Saina stumbled on a few unforced errors after the break which allowed Okuhara to lead 17-12. Saina grabbed two points before a net error and cross court drop at the left took the Japanese to the game point. She pocketed the game when Saina hit long again.
The change of side didn’t change Saina’s fortune as Okuhara zoomed to a 11-3 lead in a jiffy. The ankle injury seemed to restrict Saina’s otherwise smooth movement as she struggled to reach for the low forehand and backhand returns. The Japanese then closed the game and the match in a jiffy winning 10 of the next 13 points.
In the men’s singles match, Srikanth looked a pale shadow of himself, while Momota produced a controlled aggressive game and fortified his defence to dominate the match completely.
A tiny 3-1 lead initially was all Srikanth could manage as Momota zoomed to a 7-3 before entering the break at 11-8. After that he never allowed the Indian to lead a single time in the match.