SAINA, THE TOAST OF INDIA
India’s badminton darling Saina Nehwal notched up an incredible hat-trick of titles when she successfully defended her Indonesian Super Series title at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta on Sunday afternoon. In the previous three weeks she had won the Indian and Singapore Opens.
This is unprecedented in the history of Indian badminton. No individual, man or lady from the subcontinent has ever won a Super Series titles, let alone three!
This pretty, unassuming 20-year old Haryana-born Saina, set the tone for her incredible run of Super Series success at the Indonesian Open last year. Her second followed in Singapore last week and on Sunday, she completed her third elite title. A week prior the Singapore event, she had won the Indian Open.
To her credit, she is also the first Indian girl to enter the quarter-finals of an Olympics, a semi-finalist at the All England and a World Junior Champion.
Outside the arena of competition, Badminton World Federation has now officially elevated her to the status of the third ranked player in Ladies Singles, the highest ever scaled by an Indian. Her upward swing has her now placed a rung below China’s Wang Yihan and Wang Xin.
At the Indonesian Open on Sunday afternoon, Saina took three games to beat young Japanese Sayaka Sato, 21-19, 13-21, 21-11. Obviously the pressure to perform as the top seed took its tool in the early stages of the match, but once she got into the groove in the third, the final outcome was a mere formality.
Probably Saina’s task was made that much the easier with the absence of top Chinese players at the Singapore and Indonesian Opens. But both the events were graced by some very strong names in Ladies Singles - Tine Rasmussen, Zhou Mi, Lu Lan, Pi Hongyan, Eriko Hirose, Yao Jie, Bae Seung Hee.
There are six more Super Series and a Grand Final to be completed this year with the China Open being the next in September. While these may play a prominent role in Saina’s preparation for her continued progress along the ranks, she has indicated though that her priority would be the World Championships in Paris in August, the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October and the Guangzhou Asian Games in November. An exciting year filled with lot of promises and opportunities awaits the young Indian girl.
Meanwhile the Indonesian Open concluded on Sunday evening, producing another exciting set of results. For the second time running, the five disciplines were shared by players from five different countries!
A week earlier in Singapore, the titles were shared among India, Indonesia, Taipei, Denmark and Singapore while in Jakarta, the Indian and Taipei players still won titles but this time they had Malaysian, Korean and Polish players joining them on the rostrum .
Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei returned to winning ways after a disappointing quarter-final exit at the Singapore Open a week earlier. After seeing off his Singapore conqueror Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the semi-final, the world’s top ranked player was in devastating form against his good friend Taufik Hidayat in the final.
The first game brought out the best in both players and kept the packed Astora Senayan on its toes. But the persistently long rallies probably took its toll on Taufik who finally succumbed at the absolute tail-end and failed to force a deuce call, losing 19-21.
In the second game, the former Olympic and World champion was a spent force and Chong Wei breezed through for a comfortable 21-18. This win comes in the wake of his Super Series 2010 success at the Malaysian, Korean and the All England championship. He skipped the Swiss Open and lost in Singapore.
Taipei’s Fang Chieh Min/Lee Sheng Mu continued their winning form after their Singapore success with a clinical display against Korea’s Kwon Yi Goo/Cho Gun Woo. The final score-line: 21-16, 21-15.
But the Koreans were not to be deprived of a title as their Ladies Doubles scratch pairing of the highly experienced Lee Hyo Jung and partner Kim Min Jung upset the ranking list with a three-game win over Taipei’s Chien Yu Chin/Cheng Wen Hsing, 21-12, 12-21, 21-11. The Taipei pair is ranked 5th in the world while the Koreans are at 99!
A welcome addition to the rostrum at the Indonesian Open was the Polish pair of Robert Mateusiak and Nadiezda Zieba. The ever-popular Robert was in irresistible form and with Nadiezda providing the strong support at the net, they edged out the recently minted Indonesian-Russian combination of Hendra Setiawan/Anastasia Russkikh, in a nail-biting straight game finish 21-18, 22-20.
The Super Series now takes a brief break to facilitate players to prepare for the World Championships in Paris in August. The second phase of the 12-leg Series will begin with the China Open in September and culminate with the Masters Final in December.
MEN SINGLES
Lee Chong Wei (MAS) beat Taufik Hidayat (INA)
21-19, 21-8
LADIES SINGLES
Saina Nehwal (IND) beat Sayaka Sato (JPN)
21-19, 13-21, 21-11
MEN DOUBLES
Fang Chieh Min/Lee Sheng Mu (TPE) beat
Kwon Yi Goo/Cho Gun Woo(KOR)
21-16, 21-15
LADIES DOUBLES
Kim Min Jung/Lee Hyo Jung (KOR) beat
Chien Yu Chin/Cheng Wen Hsing (TPE)
21-12, 12-21, 21-11
MIXED DOUBLES
Robert Mateusiak/Nadiezda/Zieba (POL) beat
Hendra Setiawan/Anastasia Russkikh (IND/RUS)
21-18, 22-20