A medal in the World Championship remained elusive for Saina Nehwal as the Indian ace suffered a straight-game defeat against Korean Yeon Ju Bae in the quarterfinal of the prestigious event on Friday.
The London Olympics bronze-medallist, a quarterfinalist in the last two editions as well, was erratic and could not hold her nerves as she went down rather tamely 21-23, 9-21 in a 40-minute match at the Tianhe Indoor Stadium.
Kashyap, who was also playing at the adjacent court, played out of his skin but still could not get across world number three Du Pengyu of China. His gallant fight ended with a 21-16, 20-22, 15-21 loss in contest which lasted one hour and 15 minutes.
Saina played an aggressive game in the opening match and opened up a 11-7 lead at the interval. Her baseline smashes got her a lot of points as the Indian was in control of the match. However, Bae, who looked off-colour initially as she struggled with her strokes and reach, slowly narrowed down the lead and clawed back at 19-19. Saina was struggling with the drift as she lost a lot of points hitting wide. The Indian also faltered at the net. From nowhere, Bae not only came into the contest but also exerted the pressure on the Indian and after a hard fight won the opening game when Saina’s shuttle kissed the net and toppled outside the court.
Losing the opening game dented Saina’s confidence as she failed to put any resistance to Bae strokes. Bae, on the other hand, was confidence personified as she played like a champion and decimated the Indian.
The left-handed Korean dominated the proceedings completely as after a 5-5 initial fight, she moved to the interval with a 11-6 lead. The Korean’s strokes were powerful and drops deceptive as she reduced Saina to a bystander. Bae her nerves and wrapped up the match quickly to seal her place at the semifinal.
World number 17 Kashyap opened up a 8-5 lead but Du clawed back and moved into the break with a two-point cushion at 11-9. Kashyap then grabbed four straight points to wrest the lead and then kept his nose ahead to pocket the first game.
In the second game, Du zoomed to a 7-0 lead and though Kashyap staged a fight back, the Korean won 20-22 in the end. In the decider, Kashyap marched ahead with a 9-4 lead but Du caught up at 12-12 and then turned the tables as he grabbed a 15-12 lead. The Indian tried his best to claw back but Du didn’t give any chance to Kashyap and sealed the match with some quick points.
The London Olympics bronze-medallist, a quarterfinalist in the last two editions as well, was erratic and could not hold her nerves as she went down rather tamely 21-23, 9-21 in a 40-minute match at the Tianhe Indoor Stadium.
Kashyap, who was also playing at the adjacent court, played out of his skin but still could not get across world number three Du Pengyu of China. His gallant fight ended with a 21-16, 20-22, 15-21 loss in contest which lasted one hour and 15 minutes.
Saina played an aggressive game in the opening match and opened up a 11-7 lead at the interval. Her baseline smashes got her a lot of points as the Indian was in control of the match. However, Bae, who looked off-colour initially as she struggled with her strokes and reach, slowly narrowed down the lead and clawed back at 19-19. Saina was struggling with the drift as she lost a lot of points hitting wide. The Indian also faltered at the net. From nowhere, Bae not only came into the contest but also exerted the pressure on the Indian and after a hard fight won the opening game when Saina’s shuttle kissed the net and toppled outside the court.
Losing the opening game dented Saina’s confidence as she failed to put any resistance to Bae strokes. Bae, on the other hand, was confidence personified as she played like a champion and decimated the Indian.
The left-handed Korean dominated the proceedings completely as after a 5-5 initial fight, she moved to the interval with a 11-6 lead. The Korean’s strokes were powerful and drops deceptive as she reduced Saina to a bystander. Bae her nerves and wrapped up the match quickly to seal her place at the semifinal.
World number 17 Kashyap opened up a 8-5 lead but Du clawed back and moved into the break with a two-point cushion at 11-9. Kashyap then grabbed four straight points to wrest the lead and then kept his nose ahead to pocket the first game.
In the second game, Du zoomed to a 7-0 lead and though Kashyap staged a fight back, the Korean won 20-22 in the end. In the decider, Kashyap marched ahead with a 9-4 lead but Du caught up at 12-12 and then turned the tables as he grabbed a 15-12 lead. The Indian tried his best to claw back but Du didn’t give any chance to Kashyap and sealed the match with some quick points.