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Journalism of Courage
Playing her first match of the World Super Series Masters tournament on Thursday, Saina Nehwal saw a 27-minute clinical disintegration of her game — the 21-18, 21-14 loss executed by world No 2 Tine Rasmussen. But the defeat, coming as it was against the experienced 29-year-old Dane, briefly a world No 1 just this November, has not shattered Nehwal’s belief. What has definitely upset the 18-year-old was the high number of avoidable errors she committed.
“I got a few rallies going, but I just could not play well throughout the match. I need to control my mistakes in the next two games,” Nehwal said.
There were nerves of course, playing alongside the world’s elite, but it wasn’t so much a slow start that gave away the world No 10’s game. The Indian picked six straight points to go from trailing 2-5, to leading the Dane 8-5 in the opening set as her rival struggled to read her shots and was unable to pick the shuttle. But frittering away that advantage, Nehwal let her inexperience take over, as she committed errors and let Rasmussen break away at 13-all. Again, the teenager could not capitalise, when on 17-18, botching points to give away the set 18-21. “After leading, when I gave away those few points easily, I lost focus, and then the mistakes simply increased,” she rued.
Rasmussen’s smashes do tend to be lethal, and Nehwal couldn’t quite devise a counter.
That, coupled with the Dane’s assured net-play in the first set made Nehwal lead-footed in the next, as she crumbled and wavered in her movements. Never quite managing a lead of her own, the Indian conceded five points in a row, and never looked like she could wrest back the momentum from when she trailed 11-19. Rasmussen, seeded second here, sealed it at 21-14, leaving Nehwal two out of two to win on the second day.
