HYDERABAD: Saina Nehwal
experienced the 'so-near-yet-so-far' feeling after her disheartening
loss in the semifinals of the All-England Championships last week.
The Indian, who was favourite to annex the prestigious title after ousting the last Chinese star and former champion Shixian Wang in the quarterfinals, suffered a stunning reversal in the hands of Thailand's teen shuttler Ratchanok Intanon in the semifinal.
The loss left Saina distraught and she took a couple of days to put it behind her. The Indian ace is now seriously practicing in Basel for the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold, which gets under way on Tuesday. The Indian will be looking to achieve a hat-trick of titles.
With the final slated on Sunday (March 17), Saina, who celebrates her 23rd birthday the same day, will be looking to gift herself another Swiss crown.
Saina doesn't need to worry till the quarters where she may face Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei. In the absence of Li Xuerui and Wang Yihan, the Indian is the top seed here.
However, the presence of Shixian Wang, whom Saina may meet in the semifinals, second seed Juliane Schenk and Ratchanok Intanon makes the field quite strong.
Saina, though, is fully fit now and has no injury worries. The other Indian in the main draw, PV Sindhu faces a formidable opponent in third seed Ji Hyung Sung of Korea in the first round.
In the men's singles, Parupalli Kashyap is seeded fifth and K Srikanth, Sourabh Varma and HS Prannoy figure in the main draw. Kashyap is expected to reach the quarters without much difficulty.
The Indian, who was favourite to annex the prestigious title after ousting the last Chinese star and former champion Shixian Wang in the quarterfinals, suffered a stunning reversal in the hands of Thailand's teen shuttler Ratchanok Intanon in the semifinal.
The loss left Saina distraught and she took a couple of days to put it behind her. The Indian ace is now seriously practicing in Basel for the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold, which gets under way on Tuesday. The Indian will be looking to achieve a hat-trick of titles.
With the final slated on Sunday (March 17), Saina, who celebrates her 23rd birthday the same day, will be looking to gift herself another Swiss crown.
Saina doesn't need to worry till the quarters where she may face Tzu Ying Tai of Chinese Taipei. In the absence of Li Xuerui and Wang Yihan, the Indian is the top seed here.
However, the presence of Shixian Wang, whom Saina may meet in the semifinals, second seed Juliane Schenk and Ratchanok Intanon makes the field quite strong.
Saina, though, is fully fit now and has no injury worries. The other Indian in the main draw, PV Sindhu faces a formidable opponent in third seed Ji Hyung Sung of Korea in the first round.
In the men's singles, Parupalli Kashyap is seeded fifth and K Srikanth, Sourabh Varma and HS Prannoy figure in the main draw. Kashyap is expected to reach the quarters without much difficulty.
No comments:
Post a Comment
THNX FOR YOUR GREAT REPLY !!