Saina Nehwal close to Olympic medal
London: Saina Nehwal on Thursday created history by becoming the first Indian shuttler to reach the semifinals of the Olympics but it was curtains for Parupalli Kashyap at the London Games.
The World No.5 defeated Danish Tine Baun 21-15, 22-20 in 39 minutes to reach the last four of women's singles at the Wembley Arena.
In the process Saina also improved her head-to-head record againt Baun to 4-3. She is assured at least of a bronze.
Nehwal becomes first Indian to reach semi-finals by downing Tine Baun in straight sets.
Fourth seeded Saina relied on a fine blend of attack and defence to prevail over fifth seeded Tine Baun of Denmark 21-15, 22-20 in a 39-minute women's singles match to keep her medals hopes alive here.
The 22-year-old Indian will now take on world No 1 and World champion Yihan Wang of China in the semifinals, whom she hasn't beaten once in her last five encounters.
However, it was end of the road for Kashyap after his gallant fight against world No 2 and top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in a gruelling quarterfinal of the men's singles lost 19-21, 11-21 at the Wembley Arena.
Saina Nehwal plays a shot during her quarterfinal match against the Denmark's Tine Baun at Wembley Arena on Thursday.
World No 5 Saina, one of the few genuine medal contenders remaining in the fray, displayed some brilliant badminton as she clinched the first set in 16 minutes and had to sweat a little harder in the second set which lasted 21 minutes.
With this win, the Hyderabadi also bettered her quarterfinal finish at the Beijing Games four years ago and also exorcised the demons of her painful defeat to Maria Kristin Yulianti of Indonesia in the quarterfinals.
'I'm so happy as it's one of my dreams to play in the Olympic semifinals. Last time in the quarterfinals of the Olympics, I was 11-3 up ... I still can't forget that,' Saina said after the match.
In the match, Saina had to toil hard against the two-time All England Champion Tine, who matched her strokes but was a tad erratic, which proved to be her bane.
Saina was very precise with her strokes, while Tine was erratic initially and it allowed the Indian to lead 11-7 at the break.
After the time-out, Saina slowly mixed her strokes to move into the game point at 20-12 with a short smash but she committed some unforced errors and a few judgemental mistakes on her part allowed the Dane to save three game points. Saina finally pocketed the first game with a smash which Tine netted.
In the second game, Tine opened up a slender 3-0 lead and extended it to 10-7 but Saina reeled off four straight points to lead 11-10 at the break once again.
Saina tried to exploit the length of the court and started combining lifts and clears with drops and net-shots but Tine was up for the job as she caught up with Saina at 15-15 and even managed to earn three game points at 20-17.
But Saina was not the one to take it lying low as she executed a cross court smash to move to 18-20.
She also pocketed the next point when her stroke was judged 'in' by the line-umpire, much to chagrin of Tine, who thought it was out and was celebrating her comeback by pumping her fists.
London: Saina Nehwal on Thursday created history by becoming the first Indian shuttler to reach the semifinals of the Olympics but it was curtains for Parupalli Kashyap at the London Games.
The World No.5 defeated Danish Tine Baun 21-15, 22-20 in 39 minutes to reach the last four of women's singles at the Wembley Arena.
In the process Saina also improved her head-to-head record againt Baun to 4-3. She is assured at least of a bronze.
Nehwal becomes first Indian to reach semi-finals by downing Tine Baun in straight sets.
Fourth seeded Saina relied on a fine blend of attack and defence to prevail over fifth seeded Tine Baun of Denmark 21-15, 22-20 in a 39-minute women's singles match to keep her medals hopes alive here.
The 22-year-old Indian will now take on world No 1 and World champion Yihan Wang of China in the semifinals, whom she hasn't beaten once in her last five encounters.
However, it was end of the road for Kashyap after his gallant fight against world No 2 and top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in a gruelling quarterfinal of the men's singles lost 19-21, 11-21 at the Wembley Arena.
Saina Nehwal plays a shot during her quarterfinal match against the Denmark's Tine Baun at Wembley Arena on Thursday.
World No 5 Saina, one of the few genuine medal contenders remaining in the fray, displayed some brilliant badminton as she clinched the first set in 16 minutes and had to sweat a little harder in the second set which lasted 21 minutes.
With this win, the Hyderabadi also bettered her quarterfinal finish at the Beijing Games four years ago and also exorcised the demons of her painful defeat to Maria Kristin Yulianti of Indonesia in the quarterfinals.
'I'm so happy as it's one of my dreams to play in the Olympic semifinals. Last time in the quarterfinals of the Olympics, I was 11-3 up ... I still can't forget that,' Saina said after the match.
In the match, Saina had to toil hard against the two-time All England Champion Tine, who matched her strokes but was a tad erratic, which proved to be her bane.
Saina was very precise with her strokes, while Tine was erratic initially and it allowed the Indian to lead 11-7 at the break.
After the time-out, Saina slowly mixed her strokes to move into the game point at 20-12 with a short smash but she committed some unforced errors and a few judgemental mistakes on her part allowed the Dane to save three game points. Saina finally pocketed the first game with a smash which Tine netted.
In the second game, Tine opened up a slender 3-0 lead and extended it to 10-7 but Saina reeled off four straight points to lead 11-10 at the break once again.
Saina tried to exploit the length of the court and started combining lifts and clears with drops and net-shots but Tine was up for the job as she caught up with Saina at 15-15 and even managed to earn three game points at 20-17.
But Saina was not the one to take it lying low as she executed a cross court smash to move to 18-20.
She also pocketed the next point when her stroke was judged 'in' by the line-umpire, much to chagrin of Tine, who thought it was out and was celebrating her comeback by pumping her fists.
News Posted: 3 August, 2012
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