So close, yet so far for Saina

In a major heartbreak, Saina Nehwal lost the women’s singles final of the $500,000 All England Open Badminton Championships to Spain’s Carolina Marin here on Sunday. In her attempt to become the first Indian woman to win the prestigious Super Series Premier event, she took off well to win the opening game and lead in the second. However, a major turnaround saw the reigning World Champion demonstrate pure skill and class to earn a come-from-behind 16-21, 21-14, 21-7 win in an hour and two minutes. Playing in front of a packed arena with the crowd chanting ‘come on Saina’ “, the world no.3 started well by convincingly winning the first game and looked to emulate the legendary Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand, who won the title in 1980 and 2001, respectively. In the second game the sixth seed matched her Asian opponent but Saina appeared to have the edge when she took a 10-6 lead. However, the reigning European champion turned the tables to first level the game at 11-all.See