Mixed Singles

Saina Nehwal loses early in the India Open again,but younger compatriot PV Sindhu advances.

A small video camera placed in the spectators gallery above the court recorded Saina Nehwals second round match of the India Open Super Series. It is a ubiquitous device used by players around the world to film match footage of opponents.

On Thursday,Saina was eliminated from the India Open by Korean Youn Joo Bae,an opponent she had beaten four of the five times they had played earlier. Saina lost 19-21,10-21. For the second year running the India Open had lost its biggest star before the quarterfinal stage. In the days to come,the recording of the game will come handy to Saina as she enters the final stretch of her preparation for London.

However,the progress of PV Sindhu,the 16-year-old World No.27,will keep the Indian interest alive in the womens singles.

Sindhu pulled off her second giant kill of the tournament and made her way to her first Super Series quarter final,eliminating World No 11 Ji Hyun Sung of Korea 21-17 21-19. She had earlier defeated World No.13 Tzu Ying Tai in the first round. The early exchanges between Saina and Bae suggested that the No.5 Indian would join her younger compatriot in the quarterfinals.

As the small but raucous crowd cheered her every smash and drop,Saina surged to a 7-4 lead. Bae,however,refused to be bullied by the partisan crowd or her opponent. The Korean reverted to a trademark rallying style and denied the crowd favourite the quick finish she wanted. Clearly her homework,built on the basis of the hundreds of hours of match footage captured in various tournaments over the years,had been done.

While Bae was putting theory into practice,Saina still had her opportunities to take the game. She lead 14-11 at one stage and then 18-16 at another. Each time the Korean clawed back. As the game grew tighter,errors crept into the Indians game. Sainas game went into a tailspin.

Trailing from the start,in the second game,unforced error after error flowed from the racquet of the panicking Indian. When Bae finally delivered the coup de grace via a drop that Saina didnt even bother to retrieve,one could only be relieved that the ordeal was over. As Saina retreated to the training area,emotion took over. If playing Saina for the fifth time had enabled Youn Joo Bae to dissect Sainas game,Sindhu benefitted from being away from the scrutiny of her opponents.

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Sindhu has always been strong on the offensive,but has often struggled against an opponent who repeatedly attacks her in turn. Inexplicably Sung,for much of the first game played out long aerial rallies enabling Sindhu to find her feet in the contest and slip away to a 11-6 lead.

When Sung corrected course and began attacking,Sindhu retrieved shuttles and set up the rally to the point where she could bring her own smash into play. While the first game was secured,the second was a tougher challenge as the magnitude of her possible achievement dawned. There would be no tragedy however. Her quarterfinal against World No.7,Yanjiao Jiang of China will provide her toughest challenge yet. The anonymity she made the most of will no longer be there. As her match started,a woman clad in the red Team China jersey set up a video camera.

Revenge for Rupesh-Sanave

The men8217;s doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas upset reigning Asian Badminton Championship title holders Koreans Ki Jung Kim and Sa Rang Kim. The 21-18 18-21 21-19 win put the Indian pair in their first Super Series quarters and helped them avenge their first round loss to the same pair a week ago in Qingdao. In women8217;s doubles,Ashwini Ponappa and Jwala Gutta advanced to the last eight with a 16-21 21-15 21-17 win over Vita Marissa and Nadya Melati of Indonesia.