India celebrated
its most auspicious day in ladies badminton at the Senayan Indoor Stadium in Jakarta on Sunday
afternoon when its 19-year old sweetheart Saina Nehwal captured the ladies
singles title amidst unprecedented vocal support from an ‘alien’ crowd.
Famously reputed for its raucous backing for home players and ‘underdogs’, the strongly
partisan badminton-wise Indonesian spectators recognised the emergence of a new
star and applauded it all the way to its final winning point and put to
question the invincibility tag that has so often been associated with Chinese lady
players.
The
pretty Indian teenager had weaved her way through an international cast before
facing Wang Lin in the final. It was Petya Nedelcheva of Bulgaria in the
first round followed by the German Juliana Schenk in the second. In the last
eight, Saina outlasted a gritty Korean challenge from Hwang Hye Youn before facing
the first Chinese ‘test’ in Lu Lan.