Saina raises game,but loses final

In the first game,leading 11-8,Saina failed to judge the sharp drop shots from Yihan,who mixed her shots very well to deceive the Indian and narrow the gap. Saina hit wide as the scores were level at 14-14.

With a powerful smash,Saina moved to 16-14 but a couple of weak net shots meant she allowed her rival to close the gap further at 16-18.

A long rally,which ended with Yihan hitting the shuttle out gave Saina a 19-16 lead. But Saina hit one out to hand the service over to Yihan and the Chinese made good use of it to narrow it down to 18-19.

Fierce contest

Good net play coupled with some precise cross-court shots gave Saina a game point and she polished off the first game by pushing Yihan to make yet another unforced error,stunning the home fans into silence.

There was never a dull moment in the second game too. Sainas anticipation was good but Yihans accuracy again made life difficult for the Indian. At 5-7,Saina was involved Yihan in a long rally and earned a point with her trademark body smash.

Saina covered the court well but Yihan still managed to push the shuttle in irretrievable areas to gain points. Saina leveled at 8-8 with a sharp drop shot,which Yihan had no clue about but a couple of unforced errors by the Indian allowed the Chinese to nose ahead at 11-9.

A stunning rally and some brilliant retrieves helped Saina to once again level at 11-11. Yihan pinned Saina to the baseline and led 15-11 with the Indian hitting wide. As Saina faltered with her return shots and succumbed to unforced errors,Yihan extended the lead to 18-11.

Though Saina earned two quick points she once again hit wide to give Yihan the game point at 20-13 and the Chinese didnt waste any time to roar back into the contest at 21-13.

In the third game,Yihan took a 3-0 lead. Though the Indian earned a couple of points,Yihan still led 6-3. Yihan started dominating the proceedings and dictated the pace of the game and with a few sharp cross-court drops and angled smashes moved to 9-3. Saina slowly gathered herself and narrowed the gap to 6-9 but with Saina losing a point at the net,the Chinese had her nose ahead at 11-7. After the break,Saina earned a point but a wide shot allowed Yihan to move to 14-8.

Unforced errors proved to be Sainas bane. Yihan led 17-8. The Indian gained a couple of points but with her return shots finding the net,Yihan moved to 18-11 before closing it with a smash. This is Yihans sixth title of the year,which includes the World Championships crown.

Dan the man

Lin Dan added a first Superseries Finals title to his trophy haul with a 21-12 21-16 success over Chinese compatriot Chen Long. Chen had disposed of titleholder and World No.1 Lee Chong Wei in the semis but once again found Lin too strong,losing for the fourth time from four career matches against his illustrious team mate.