Saina fails to solve Yihan mystery again in ABC semis

NAGPUR: Saina Nehwal once again failed to solve Wang Yihan mystery as the fifth seed Indian crashed out in the Badminton Asia Championships at Wuhan on Saturday.
Beating any Chinese player is always difficult in their own backyard. But Saina had raised hopes by knocking out Wang Shixian on Friday in the quarter-finals. But world No. 8 could not continue her magical display against another Chinese and faced yet another defeat in the semi-finals.
It was fourth consecutive semi-final finish for Saina this year following Swiss Open, India Open and Malaysia Open.
Continued from where she had left on Friday, Saina started well against her nemesis Yihan but as the match progressed she could not maintained the tempo and lost 16-21, 14-21 in 41 minutes.
Thus, the jinx for Saina stayed as far as beating Yihan is concerned as she suffered her 11th loss in 15 meetings.
The sixth seed Yihan knew how to beat Saina and she implemented her plans to perfection. Although, Saina saved five match points, Yihan was always in control of the match.
Saina's coach Vimal Kumar was expecting to break the losing sequence against her traditional rival but her ward's effort dejected him completely.
"Saina was lethargic in her movements today and that did let her down. Wang Yihan did not play anything exceptional today. She plays a particular pattern against Saina always, and today too was no different," said Vimal.
The energy-sapping win over Shixian on Friday perhaps took lot of Saina's body and she could not maintain the same level of play against Yihan.
"Saina was not moving well sideways and also made too many unforced errors. It was a disappointing display, considering the fact that she was fresh (she skipped last week's Singapore Open) and was moving well in her previous matches. I was expecting her to Wang Yihan today but she could not live up to my expectations," said Vimal.
In two weeks' time Saina will be again travelling to China for Uber Cup. The Indian ace will then compete in the Indonesia Super Series Premium and Australia Super Series. All the tournaments will be over by June 10. She will then have eight weeks of solid preparations for the Rio Olympics.