Saina, Srikanth lose in semis of Superseries Finals

Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and leading male shuttler Kidambi Srikanth lost in their respective semi-finals of the $1,000,000 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Superseries Finals at the Hamdan Sports Complex here Saturday.

While World No.4 Saina was tamed 21-11, 13-21, 9-21 in 55 minutes by World No.9 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei, World No.6 Srikanth was outplayed 18-21, 9-21 in 43 minutes by reigning world champion Chen Long of China.

The 24-year-old Saina had a very good start in the first game but the 2014 Asian Games bronze medallist Tai produced an array of deceptive drop shots and combated Saina's smashes with sharp net play to win the match in 55 minutes.

In the first game, Saina produced an aggressive game that rattled Tai. The imposing Indian opened up a 8-2 early lead which became 11-5 at the break. With Saina's cross-court smashes falling in place, the Hyderabadi girl grabbed five straight points to race away to a 15-5 lead. She eventually pocketed the game 21-11.

However, World No.9 Tai pulled things back in the second game. Though Saina had a similar start, taking a 4-0 lead, she couldn't keep the momentum going. Tai quickly erased the four-point deficit and raced away to a five-point advantage at the break. Tai was sharper at the net as compared to Saina, who was not particularly mobile on the court.

At the other end, Tai was quick with her backhand returns and rattled the Hyderabadi's defence on several occasions. Still Saina fought her way back and equalised at the 12-point mark.

Relying on her delectable drop shots and well disguised slices, the 20-year-old Tai pressurised Saina. The Taipei shuttler took five points on the trot to close out the second game at 21-13.

Saina continued to make mistakes in the decider as well, allowing Tai to take a 7-2 lead. Saina's problems swelled as Tai bagged seven successive points to widen the lead 14-3. Those seven points virtually ended Saina's victory hopes, eventually losing 9-21.

With this win, Tai improved her one-on-one career record to 4-5 while Saina closed her Superseries season with a 37-11 win-loss record.

In the final, Tai will face South Korean World No.5 Sung Ji Hyun, who battled past rising Japanese star Akane Yamaguchi 21-13, 21-13 in 38 minutes.

In the other game, Srikanth put up a creditable fight in the first game, before losing 18-21 against World No.1 Long.

In the second game, Asian Games silver medallist Long started positively and led 5-3 before grabbing seven straight points to enjoy a 12-3 advantage.

The 21-year-old Srikanth earned a few points but his challenge was quickly crushed by the 25-year-old Long, who took six successive points to race to 19-7 before completing the domination 21-9.