Schenk too good for Saina

India's World No.2 fails to defend title as she loses to the German 21-12,13-21,14-21in semis

An erratic Saina Nehwal failed to defend her title at the Indonesian Super Series Premier after suffering a three-game defeat to Germanys Juliane Schenk in the semifinals of the womens singles competition here on Saturday.

World No.2 Saina,who has won the title three times 8211; 2009,2010 and 2012 8211; lost 21-12,13-21,14-21 to Schenk,ranked fourth,in a contest that lasted for 52 minutes at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno stadium.

It was not Sainas day as the Indian,who holds a 8-3 record against the German,made too many errors which in turn helped the German clinch a close match. In the first game,Juliane took a 12-10 lead after a fierce battle early on,but Saina wrested back the advantage by involving the German in long rallies and mixing it up at the net.

Juliane failed to gauge Sainas strokes and faltered as she kept hitting long and found the net too often to allow the Indian to race away with the first game with 11 straight points. Saina sealed the game with an overhead half-smash.

After changing sides,Juliane took a 4-0 lead as nothing went Sainas way. The Indian tried to engage Juliane in rallies but Juliane was up to the task as she moved to 6-0 with Saina hitting wide. Egged on by a vociferous crowd who chanted her name,Saina gathered four points but Juliane had her nose ahead at 11-4. Juliane kept the shuttle flat during serve,retrieved everything and smashed hard to move to 14-6. A couple of missed strokes at the net gave Saina two points but the Indian committed too many unforced errors to allow Juliane gain nine game points at 20-11.

Saina saved two game points but Juliane soon roared back into the contest with an elegant cross-court flick at the net,which caught the Indian off-balance at the forecourt. In the decider,Saina looked to play more rallies but Juliane matched the Indian and waited for her to commit mistakes. Saina once again started hitting long and wide and allowed Juliane to take a 6-4 lead.

Juliane looked at ease and her smashes and aggressive net play left Saina looking for answers as the German went into the breather at 11-5.

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After the breather,Juliane hit the net and also hit long to give Saina a couple of points but the Indian once again failed to get the length of her stokes right as Juliane lead at 14-7. Saina tried to keep her cool and tried to push Juliane to make mistakes to slowly narrow the gap to 14-16. However,a cross-court smash,brilliant net play and another down the line smash helped Juliane to make it 19-14.

What followed next was a long rally,which culminated with Saina hitting wide,giving Juliane six match points. Another missed point at the net,and Juliane was celebrating.