Sensational Saina trumps Sindhu for Nationals title
8 Nov 2017 5:40 PM GMT
Nagpur: Saina Nehwal dug deep into her reservoir of experience and upstaged fancied P V Sindhu, quite incredibly, in straight games to clinch the women's singles title in the Senior National Badminton Championship on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old Saina, a former world number one, got the better of Sindhu, the Olympic and World Championship silver medallist, 21-17 27-25 in a pulsating summit clash that lasted 54 minutes.
"I am surprised with the way I played today (on Wednesday). I moved well and picked Sindhu's difficult shots," an elated Saina said after the win.
Second seed H S Prannoy, who achieved a career-best World No. 11 ranking last week, saw off top seed World No 2 Kidambi Srikanth 21-15 16-21 21-7 in a 49-minute battle to win the men's singles title in the 82nd edition of the tournament.
It was double delight for Ashwini Ponnappa, who claimed two titles — clinching the mixed doubles with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and women's doubles with N Sikki Reddy.
Second seeds Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy bounced back from a game and three-match point down in the second game to beat top seeds Satwik and Chirag Shetty 15-21 22-20 25-23 and win the men's doubles title.
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