Saina Nehwal made a first-round exit from the All England badminton championship after a straight-game defeat against World No. 1 and defending champion Tai Tzu-Ying, here on Wednesday.
Saina, who had reached the finals in the 2015 edition, couldn’t match up to the precision and athleticism of top-seeded Tai Tzu-Ying, going down 21-14, 21-18. It was Saina’s eighth successive loss to the Taiwanese wizard in five years.
After failing to keep pace with Tai Tzu in the opening game, the 27-year-old Indian blew a 16-11 advantage in the second game to bow out of the $1,000,000 World Super 1000 tournament.
Saina, who had lost to Tai Tzu in the final of the Indonesia Masters early this year, showed a lot of grit to keep herself in the rallies but the Taiwanese was simply phenomenal and displayed her mastery of strokes in the 38-minute clash to once again outwit the Indian.
