After a disappointing performance at the China Open, Saina Nehwal is back with a bang. She is through to the quarter-finals at the Hong Kong Open Super Series. She won a close fought match against Japan’s Sayaka Sato in the second round.
The score read 21-18, 9-21, 21-16. 51 minutes is all it took for Saina to win the match. She had won the same tournament back in 2010. After returning from the knee injury, this is her second tournament.
The first game was a hard fought contest with both players being neck to neck. The Indian won the first game but a dramatic comeback from the Japanese meant that the match was tied at 1-1 after Game 2.
Saina did the smart work of gaining an early lead in the third game of the match. She eventually overcame the Japanese challenge by winning the decisive game 21-16.
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As The SportsRush previously reported, Saina may end up playing PV Sindhu in the semi-finals if both the players make it through to that stage.
In the first round of the tournament, Saina took her China Open revenge from Thailand’s Porntip Buranaprasertsuk. She defeated the Thai 12-21, 21-19, 21-17.
She is currently world number 11. The highest ranked Indian is PV Sindhu at 9th position. She owes the rank to her victory at the China Open.
As a matter of fact, only the top 8 players in the world contest in the much-awaited and prestigious year-ending BWF Super Series Masters Finals.
