INDIAN hopes of a medal at the world badminton championships were finally snuffed out on Friday (August 27) when world number two Saina Nehwal bowed out in the women’s singles quarter-finals.
It was a disappointing outcome to a week which had promised much but in the end the 20-year-old succumbed to another of the Chinese legion of top-class players.
Wang Shixian, seeded six and quicker around the court, emerged the 21-8 21-14 victor in a contest that lasted just 34 minutes.
Nehwal has risen to the giddy heights of world-ranked two after victories in a couple of Super Series events.
That prompted Prakash Padukone, one of Indian sport’s all-time greats, to describe her as “the most complete woman shuttler in the world”.
A nation often starved of sporting success by individuals has taken her to their hearts and expectations were high, especially after golfer Arjun Atwal became the first Indian to win on the PGA Tour last Sunday (August 22).
It was not to be but Nehwal was frank about her failure. “My weakness was that I was not moving at all,” she told reporters. “Wang was quicker in her movements and she was more attacking at the net.”
Nehwal remained philosophical about losing for the second year running at the quarter-final stage. “It happens,” she said. “You win some, you lose some. I thought maybe I could progress a bit further so it was a sad day today. It was not my day but I tried my best.”
