Saina fights into quarters

Faced with an opponent who chose to retaliate in kind every time Saina Nehwal mounted an attack on her in the Indonesian Super series pre-quarters...

Faced with an opponent who chose to retaliate in kind every time Saina Nehwal mounted an attack on her in the Indonesian Super series pre-quarters,the 19-year-old Indian did more than out-numbering Juliane Schenks smashes on Thursday. Drawing the German,ranked 16,into longer rallies in the second,Nehwal absorbed Schenks offensive before asserting her dominance in a laboured 18-21 21-7 21-19 win at the the Isatora Senayan stadium in Jakarta.

Having lost the first game 21-18 to unforced errors in the last two points,Nehwal forced her opponent to run around plenty in the second,tiring her out as she took the sting out of Schenks attack.

Schenk plays a good attacking game,and hits very well. But in the second I ensured she was made to run around,and she couldnt match my pace as the rallies got her, Nehwal said as she won 14 points in a row to wrap up the second 21-7.

In the decider,Nehwal was forced to play catch-up till 16-all as the 26-year-old German showed no signs of relenting,before the Indian world No 8 could break away,and down her rival.

Schenk had started with a bang,and was relentless in her attack through the 47-minute match,when she over-took Nehwal at 17-16,matching smash for smash to push ahead and gain the advantage in the opener. With the faster side of the court inducing errors,Nehwal changed tactics and took off from 7-7 to assume control of the game as she levelled a set each while warding off the faster drives of the German rival.

The final game went neck-and-neck,with Nehwal in ultra-offensive mode as she played her big game in the crucial points. Finishing with 40 smashes against Schenks 23,Nehwal had unleashed her weapon but not before defending bravely after losing the opening game.

Sixth seeded Nehwal next plays Korean Hye Youn Hwang who upset Chen Wang,seeded fourth,in three sets. Ive never played the Korean before,but shes a tough opponent,and itll be a match with a lot of rallies and running around, Nehwal said,of her entry-way quarters encounter into a possible semi-finals of a prestigious Super Series event. Recovery will be the key as both players were involved in tedious three-setters.

Aditi crumbles

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ADITI Mutatkar went to pieces during her 21-8,21-5 loss to old nemesis Maria Febe Kusumastuti of Indonesia in a 22-minute blitzkrieg over the Indian. The 22-year-old Indian shuttler,ranked 36 currently,was completely outplayed as she won less than a fourth of the rallies played against an opponent who shed lost to from being match-point up at the Bitburger Open last year. It was a humiliating loss,but she was too good for me today, said Mutatkar,who was reluctant to blame her still-recovering knee for the defeat. It wasnt paining,but the fear has stuck in the mind and sometimes Im apprehensive of hurting it again,so the entire focus shifts to worrying about the knee rather than concentrating on the game, she said.

Saina drops to 8; Chetan 15

Saina Nehwal slipped one place to 8 in the latest rankings,while Chetan Anand went down to 15. While Anup Sridhar moved up marginally to 36,the others in the top 50 included Aravind Bhat 27,P Kashyap 32 and Anand Pawar 44. Indias mixed doubles pairing of V Diju and Jwala Gutta jumped up to 8 in the world.