Dubai , December 11 : Indian challenge at the BWF World Super Series Finals has ended with Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth both losing to their respective opponents. Saina lost to Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in three gruelling sets 21-16, 16-21, 14-21. The 22-year-old Kidambi Srikanth from Guntur lost in straight sets 17-21, 13-21 to Chou Tien Chen of China. Nozomi Okuhara and Carolina Marin have both qualified from Group-A to the semi-finals.
The World Champion from Spain, who lost to Saina yesterday in a thrilling encounter, finished second in the group due to a superior game win count. In the final group game, the 25-year-old Indian won the first game easily, but failed to convert his good start and lost the match in less than an hour. The Indian got off to a steady start losing the second point . The current world number 2 earned a healthy 5-2 lead, only to see his opponent catch her up to make it 5-5.
The first game, then, witnessed of a heavy tussle And from a 8-6 lead, Nehwal allowed her opponent to take the lead 8-9.With a huge number of people gathered to cheer for the Indian shuttler , the Olympic medallist successfully took a 14-10 lead.Carrying her stupendopus form from yesterday’s win over world champion Carolina Marin, Saina raced to 19-11. But after conceding a series of points, Saina finally won
the game 21-16 in 15 minutes.The game witnessed both players executing some grueling net play, besides engaging in long relays.The Chinese Taipei shuttler enjoyed a slight lead in the earlier stage leading 7-4 and extended the lead to 14-9.But, the Indian suddenly showed some flashes of brilliance to win the next five points. A costly unforced error from her opponent gave a chance to Saina to draw level at 16-16.Saina ultimately won the game 21-18. In the decicing stage Nehwal was trailing before winning two back-to-back points.The Indian seemed to be back in the game but Tai Tzu Ying has some other plans. Saina somehow managed to reduce the gap but the world number five sealed the the game 21-14. However, in the men’s singles Indian hope Kidambi Srikanth lost for the consecutive third time, with a straight sets 17-21, 13-21.Srikanth had previously lost to Kento Momota of Japan 13-21, 21-13 and Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in 13-21, 18-21.