CHENNAI: Kryptonite. This word, associated with Superman’s character, is best suited to describe the way Saina Nehwal succumbs to a loss every time she is up against Tai Tzu Ying. Friday was the 13th consecutive time she went down when playing against the World No 1, this time in the quarterfinals of the All England Championships. The last time Nehwal had beaten Taiwanese was back in 2013.
Playing the first match of the day at Arena Birmingham, the World No 9 lost 15-21, 19-21 in 37 minutes. Even before Nehwal had reached the quarters, there was talk of the two facing each other. While the former displayed enough resilience to reach that stage, she could not do enough crack the ‘Tai Tzu’ code again.
Experts this newspaper got in touch with said that the Taiwanese can be beaten, but with a strategy that keeps changing. “Tai Tzu has all kinds of deceptive strokes, which are really tough to read. On the other hand, Saina commits to her shots early, which becomes easier for Tai Tzu to read. You need to change your style of play consistently. And try to vary the pace of the game. All of this needs a lot of hard work,” Nehwal’s former coach U Vimal Kumar said.
Vimal thinks Tai Tzu’s deceptive game makes it difficult for Saina to implement her plans. “Saina can definitely play a lot better than this. She should look to push Tai Tzu to the back of the court, and then attack. She is just playing into her hands. Tai Tzu has complete control over the game whenever she faces Saina. In this match, Saina gave away many easy points. It is not like she does not know the tactics, she does. It is just that she has not really been able to implement them properly. And that is because of Tai Tzu’s deception. She needs to capitalise on the few errors that Tai Tzu makes.”
In the recent past, players have shown that the ‘code’ can be broken. Shuttlers such as Akane Yamaguchi and Ratchanok Intanon have subdued the 24-year-old multiple times since the beginning of 2018. Even Sindhu broke her jinx at the World Tour Finals last year.
“When a player has defeated you 13 consecutive times, it is definitely something to worry about. Tai Tzu is a complete player, whether it is her speed or fitness or agility. And she is a very intelligent operator,” former multiple national champion Aparna Popat said.
Srikanth out
Kidambi Srikanth lost to World No 1 Kento Momota 21-12, 21-16 to end India’s campaign at All England. It was the Guntur native’s eighth consecutive loss to the Japanese.