All England Open: Saina Nehwal Knocked Out After Losing To World No.1 Tai Tzu Ying In Quarter-Finals

Saina Nehwal crashed out of the out of the All England Open 2019 badminton championships after losing 15-21, 19-21 to World No.1 Tai Tzu Ying in the women's singles quarter-finals on Friday. Later in the day, Kidambi Srikanth will take on World No.1 Kento Momota of Japan, who has beaten the Indian five times last season. A 2015 finalist, Saina Nehwal was blown away by the Taiwanese shuttler in straight games in a 37-minute clash. The Indian shuttler is now 5-15 in head-to-head career record with Tzu-Ying and it was her 13th straight defeat against the Taiwanese, who has not lost to Saina Newal since 2015.

Tzu-Ying, who had retired at the Hong Kong Open last year due to a waist injury, seemed to have recovered well as she went about her job with consummate ease at the Arena Birmingham.

Tzu-Ying's arsenal of strokes was in full display as she rushed to a 11-3 lead. Saina produced two superb drops and won nine of the next 12 points to narrow the equation to 12-14.

Tzu-Ying then came out with a flurry of her magical strokes to move to 20-13 and sealed it comfortably.

In the second game, Saina enjoyed a five-point cushion at 8-3 in the second game after husband Parupalli Kashyap pleaded her to play disciplined badminton.

Some exceptional strokes helped the Taiwanese to gather a few points but Saina ensured a 11-8 advantage at the interval.

The Indian tried to keep Tzu-Ying at the backline with her deep tosses but fatigue, perhaps due to the bout of diarrhea ahead of the event, affected her.

Tzu-Ying's deceptive strokes often left Saina wrong-footed as she moved ahead of the Indian to 17-15. Saina made it 19-19 with a successful line call. But two precise returns on the Indian's backhand ended the match in the Taiwanese favour. 

The Indian shuttler had rallied her way to a 8-21 21-16 21-13 win over Denmark's Line Kjaersfeldt in a 51-minute contest on Thursday.

(With PTI inputs)