Open and shut case for Saina

It was a rough draw in the form of the seasoned world No 4 Hongyan Pi at the All England - the one tournament Saina Nehwal...

It was a rough draw in the form of the seasoned world No 4 Hongyan Pi at the All England the one tournament Saina Nehwal had set her sights on at the height of her 2008 success. The computerised picking of lots,along with her tentative hitting shoulder,ensured that the Indian shuttlers return to action was rather harrowing. Playing her experienced opponent in the first round,Nehwals stay at this edition of the tournament lasted the duration of a 34-minute 21-15,21-16 loss to her rival from France. Nehwals frustration was compounded by the fact that her nagging worry over the shoulder severely restricted her stroke-making.

She was playing really well,and I was a little tense about hurting the shoulder again,so my strokes never got going, the Indian world No 10 said after twice allowing Pi to surge ahead from level scores of 13-13 and 14-14 in her straight games loss.

Nehwal matched Pi at the net,keeping herself in contention for three-fourths of both games. But nervous about her overhead stroke-making throughout,the 18-year-old admitted to committing a string of unforced errors as Pi went for the kill and grabbed unassailable leads and wrapped up the match in just over 30 minutes.

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The lesson learnt here is to be very careful with injuries in the future,and stay patient when playing against players who are so experienced and in good form, she added. Nehwal had gone into the match with just a week of on-court hitting,owing to the injured shoulder. Two weeks short of turning 19,Nehwal stressed that shed have to take these losses and stiff draws in her stride as she climbs the steeply-rising steps up from No 10.

Playing Maria Kristin Yulianti in her opener at the next meet the Swiss Open Nehwal said that itll be as good as a grudge match for her as the Indonesian had ended her medal chances at the Olympics. The Beijing quarter-final match is still a nightmare,but this is a fresh match and I want to play well, she said.

There was further disappointment for the Indians at the National Indoor arena on Wednesday,when the womens doubles pair of Jwala Gutta-Shruti Kurien went down fighting 9-21,21-19,18-21 to Chiou Hwee Haw and Pek Siah Lim of Malaysia. Indias top bet in mens section Chetan Anand was felled 6-21,21-17,21-12 by Englishman Andrew Smith,while Anand Pawar,after his strenuous efforts in qualifying on Tuesday,went down 22-20,21-15 to fifth seed Sony Dwi Kuncoro.