Saina triumphs at Singapore to win second Super Series title

SINGAPORE - India’s top shuttler Saina Nehwal won her second Super Series title when she beat a fighting Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei 21-18, 21-15 to win the Singapore Open badminton tournament here Sunday.

World no.6 Saina, the top seed in the tournament, has been in irresistible form and beat two Chinese players to reach the summit clash.

The victory will give her immense confidence as she prepares to defend her Indonesian Open title, which was her first Super Series triumph, next week.

It has been a fascinating two weeks for Saina as she won two back-to-back titles having won the Indian Open Grand Prix last week.

“It is a great victory. I was confident about my performance here,” Saina said.

Saina, 20, indeed played like a champion and her victory against world champion Lun Lan in the semi-finals Saturday was the icing on the cake.

Saina also avenged her defeat at the hands of another Chinese Xuerui Li, who had stunned the Indian at home in the Badminton Asia championships in April.

The two big victories cleared the way for Saina to go for the title, though her opponent in the final, 16-year-old qualifier Tzu, ranked 118, had shown enough promise during the week upsetting some big names.

The teenage talent Tzu beat South Korea’s Youn Joo Bae in the semi-finals.

Tzu surprised Saina with her deceptive game and opened up a huge 13-6 lead. Saina looked rattled, but she relied on her experience to bounce back in the game. Saina engaged Tzu in rallies and attacked her weak backhand to score points.

Down 9-15, Saina with some sharp net-play pocketed four points to closed the gap. It was a tense battle from there on as both players fought tooth and nail to take control of the match.

At 16-16, it looked like anybody’s game, but once Saina discovered the chink in Tzu’s backhand, she exploited it to the hilt.

Saina broke free from 18-18 to win the first game.

Saina was more relaxed in the second game and was in commanding position right from the start never giving away the lead. She would nicely set up Tzu, pushing her at the backhand corner and then wait for the opponent’s loose shot to finish points.

Saina opened up an 8-4 lead before Tzu slumped into a rash of errors.

From 11-9, Saina won six straight points to take the game beyond Tzu. Though the Chinese Taipei teenager showed occasional brilliance and won some good points, Saina stood solid to close out the match.

“I was a bit nervous at the start but then I regained my composure. I was down at a crucial time in the first game, but played well to win it,” Saina said.

“I got my confidence back and played more rallies to set-up the points in the second game,” she said.