Saina goes down in Masters opener

Saina Nehwal seems to be getting drawn into stretched battles of attrition much too often. On Wednesday,playing one of the...

Saina Nehwal seems to be getting drawn into stretched battles of attrition much too often. On Wednesday,playing one of the longest matches of the day at 49 minutes,the Indian world No 8 went down 21-13-21 21-13 14-21 to Malaysian Mew Choo Wong in her first group game of the Super Series Masters Final in Johor Bahru.

Far too often now,the 19-year-old has been getting the rough end of three-game matches fought over 100 rallies and more.

On Wednesday,Nehwal conceded points at the net even as her efforts to punch a recovery by smashing came to a nought in the decider. Having lost the first game after a five-point surge from Mew Choo Wong at 15-11 the Malaysian clearly the better player at the fore-court Nehwal tried to fight back by stepping up her attacking in the second. The Indian,for once,managed to match her opponent at the net exchanges too,and combined with good court coverage,was able to make her six-point lead at 10-4 count,winning the game 21-13.

However,even though Nehwal closed in on the Malaysian at 11-10 in the third game,she couldnt grab the crucial lead and forced into playing catch-up repeatedly,tired out and lost 21-14.

Her next round-robin game against Canadian Charmaine Reid shouldnt pose too many problems,offering her the required confidence after being forced to play on the fast-emptying tank of energy reserves at the fag end of the season. This tournament with her top-seeded status has also put pressure on Nehwal to live up to that billing as she struggles between asserting her dominance against the lower-ranked shuttlers and playing her naturally attacking game freely.

The mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju didnt fare too well either on Day 1,going down in straight games to the English pair of Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg. They next play Gunawan Hendra Aprida and Vita Marissa of Indonesia.