Saina Nehwal broke her quarterfinal jinx, which has been dogging her in recent times when she overcame Spain’s Carolina Marin 21-16, 21-19 in 39 minutes to advance to the women’s singles semifinals of the Indonesian Open Premier Super Series tournament at Jakarta.
The World No 2 will clash with fourth seed Juliane Schenk of Germany for a fifth appearance in the final. However, India’s campaign in the men’s singles event ended with RMV Gurusaidutt and Ajay Jayaram bowing out of the tournament in contrasting styles. A fighting Gurusaidutt won his first game 21-19 against hosts’ Tommy Sugiarto before losing the next two at 11-21, 10-21.
On the other hand, Jayaram went down tamely to Germany’s Marc Zwiebler 16-21, 15-21 in 34 minutes.
Saina looked lost in the second game with 19-year-old Marin threatening to level the match when she led 19-15 but inexperience cost her dearly as the cool Saina closed the game and won six points in a row to level it at 19-all. The 23-year-old Indian won the next two points to storm into the last four stage.
But it was a battle of nerves for Saina. The Indian was tested to the full by Marin, who is ranked 27 in the world. The Spanish played some tricky shots that often caught Saina on the wrong foot.
The first game saw Marin keeping pressure on Saina and was level at 12-all before the Indian edged ahead from 16-13. Saina showed experience and controlled the game as the Spanish girl could win further three points. Saina closed the first game in 17 minutes.
Marin was a more determined player in the second game. She began to play some deceptive shots to have Saina trailing and Marin also took full advantage of the Indian’s unforced errors. With the wind playing a factor, it was difficult for the players to control the ‘bird’. But nevertheless Marin began to dominate the game as she galloped to a 16-12 and 19-15 lead. At this stage, Marin fumbled by playing into Saina’s trap. The young Spanish girl played a few wide and long shots to fritter away a golden opportunity. Saina collected six points in a row to finally win at 21-19.
Results: Womens’s Singles: Saina Nehwal (IND) bt Carolina Marin (ESP) 21-16, 21-19; Mens Singles: A Jayaram lost to Marc Zwiebler (GER) 16-21, 15-21; Tommy Sugiarto (INA) bt RMV Gurusaidutt 19-21, 21-11, 21-10.