Hyderabad: Star shuttler Saina Nehwal survived some anxious moments before prevailing over Juliane Schenk in a tight contest as Hyderabad Hotshots took a 2-0 lead over Pune Pistons in their semifinal match in the inaugural Indian Badminton League here today.
Hyderabad icon player Saina won a tense decider after she could not finish off the match in the second game to emerge 21-10 19-21 11-8 victorious after team-mate Ajay Jayaram had given the home side a 1-0 lead at the Gachibowli Stadium.
Jayaram pulled off a surprising victory over top-ranked Tien Minh Nyugen 21-17 21-11 in the first match.
The match between Saina and Schenk, currently world number four and three respectively, proved to be an exciting battle marked by long rallies, powerful smashes and drop shots as both tried to outsmart each other.
The first game went in favour of Saina as she managed to expand her initial lead of 7-3 against Schenk at the time of first break to a massive 14-4 at the time of second interval.
Saina gained momentum as the game progressed and some unforced errors proved to be the undoing for her German opponent Schenk who conceded the first game 10-21.
Schenk, however, put up a tough fight in the second game which witnessed long rallies between the two as they did not let any opportunity to score a point go by.
Saina had an edge of 7-6 by the first break and she succeeded in taking it to 14-8 by the second interval. Schenk, however, staged a remarkable comeback and leveled the score at 18-18, before taking the game at 21-19.
The decider was a keenly-fought battle between the two celebrated players and the spectators were on the edge of their seats. Cheered by the home spectators who enjoyed every bit of the rallies and powerful smashes, Saina finished the duel at 11-8.
“I lost my focus in the 2nd game and was unable to retrieve few shots. Schenk also changed her shots little bit which became quite dangerous. But I just thought about winning for a few seconds and got myself back in action to win the match,” Saina said after the match.
