The Indian shuttler loses to Kristin Yulianti despite leading 11-3 in the decider
BEIJING: Apart from India’s maiden individual gold, the best thing about these Games till now has been the revelation that Saina Nehwal is a player who not only revels on the big stage but also has the tenacity to prevail under pressure. On Wednesday, she played the match of her life but was beaten by a player literally playing out of her skin. Maria
Kristin Yulianti is 21 in the world and hence unseeded in this tournament but she exhibited the form and nerve of a player far beyond her ranking to outclass the Indian 26-28, 21-14, 21-15.
It was a nerve-racking close encounter. In the first game Nehwal led 15-9 and then had two game points at 20-16 before eventually prevailing 28-26.
En route she herself saved a game point before taking the lead. Yulianti rushed off after the score was 3-3 in the second to continuously keep ahead of the Indian and register a 21-14 score and make it one game all to force the decider.
With Nehwal 11-3 ahead in the last game, it looked like the she was headed for a place in the semifinals before Yulianti dug in and produced what has to be the match of her life to outclass Sania. There was really nothing Nehwal could do as she went on the offensive. The Indian tried to change the pace of the game, went from defence to attack and looked for myriad options as the Indonesian surged to first claim six straight points and then reel off ten in a row to make it 19-12 before Nehwal got a word in again.
It was a fitness test in the end and Nehwal was candid enough to admit that she was dog tired by the end of it all.
Indian archer Mangal Singh Champia disappointed with a pre-quarterfinal loss. Watched by Abhinav Bindra in the stands Champia made a late charge after a few initial poor arrows but was unable to keep down Russian Bair Badenov who prevailed 109-108.
