Saina Nehwal defeated PV Sindhu 21-17, 27-25 to lift her national third women's singles crown at the 82nd Senior National Badminton Championships.
SNBCIndia Twiiter Photo
Saina Nehwal defeated world No. 2 PV Sindhu 21-17, 27-25 to lift the women's singles title at the 82nd Senior National Badminton Championships in Nagpur. Saina has now played the nationals three times and lifted the trophy each time.
The match that lasted just under an hour, was being billed as the clash of the two Olympic medallists, but the match had more riding on it more than the tag of national champion. Saina had won the bronze at the 2012 London Olympics and Sindhu had won silver at the following Rio Olympics last year.
The history between Saina and Sindhu is well documented and both were returning to the nationals after considerable period. Saina did not participate in the nationals since her back-to-back titles win in 2006 and 2007, while Sindhu also missed the Senior Nationals since winning the 2011 and 2013 editions. Sindhu had prevailed over her precursor earlier this year at the India Super Series.
Happy to win the national championships in Nagpur... and congratulations to @prannoy_hs_ for winning the men’s national championships � pic.twitter.com/ho304ubIwO
- Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) November 8, 2017
The 27-year-old world No. 11, out-witted her top-seeded opponent in the crucial junctures of the match. Saina began the match, attacking from the very beginning, but Sindhu kept hitting back with her deft touches at the net. Most of the first game was played out in the centre of the court with both facing problems controlling the shuttle given the drift inside the stadium.
After exchanging early punches, Saina got to 10-7 with a open body cross court smash to which Sindhu responded with a jump-smash across the court. Sindhu looked tentative, eager to finish off the point, ever-searching for opportunities to lay an early smash. But, Saina showed her experience and controlled the pace of the rally, making Sindhu work for every stroke.
Saina moved the shuttle with poise and maturity around the court, making Sindhu dance to her tunes as she took the first game, 21-17. Saina's plan was simple -- go for placement rather than sheer power unlike Sindhu.
In the beginning of the second game as well, Saina kept pushing Sindhu onto one side and then finishing off the point with body smashes. But it was Sindhu who enforced the matter early again to get a grip on the second grip, racing to a 5-2 lead.
Saina clawed her way back to make it 7-8 and looked to take it to her and keep Sindhu working hard for her points. It was Sindhu however, who went into the break with the score reading 11-8. And from here on in, the cat and mouse race began with either not willing to let the tie slip away.
Saina had spun strings around the jewel of Gopichand's Academy, turning puppeteer to stage her comeback at 19-18. What followed next will probably go down in history as one of the greatest series of game points, as both failed to finish off the game (Saina missed six game points to Sindhu's one). The final few points can be summed up with what happened when on the pair were on 25-24. Sindhu missed her chance and served long, with Saina following it up with a serve into the net. But after, what seemed a very long time, Saina walked away as he champion to a very happy Nagpur crowd.