Defending champion Saina Nehwal survived a scare in her campaign opener as she struggled past Indonesia’s Lindaweni Fanetri in an energy-sapping three-game thriller at the Indonesian Super Series Premier on Tuesday.
World number two Saina had to play out of her skin against the 14th ranked Lindaweni, who posed a huge threat to the Indian before losing 17-21, 29-27, 13-21 in an hour and 14 minutes in a first round match at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.
The 23-year-old from Hyderabad will next take on the winner of the match between Sayaka Takahashi of Japan and Thailand’s Porntip Buranaprasertsuk in the pre-quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Saina, seeded second, relied on her smashes, while Lindaweni dominated the net.
In the opening game, Lindaweni was leading 5-2 initially and it was only from 9-9 that Saina could get ahead even though she was always breathing down her neck.
The 24-year-old Indonesian raised her game and engaged in a fierce battle to go into the breather with a slender 11-9 advantage in the second game. However, in the decider, Saina showed why she is one of the best in the business.
In the mixed doubles, world no. 29 pair of Tarun Kona and Ashwini Ponnappa prevailed over 30th ranked Praveen Jordan and Vita Marissa 21-18, 14-21, 25-23 in a 53-minute battle.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/content/vandana-shiva
