Saina Nehwal won the final of the India Open Super Series against Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon in New Delhi on Sunday.
Saina Nehwal: India Open 2015 Winner © AFP
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New Delhi: First Indian women shuttler
to achieve world number one ranking, Saina Nehwal clinched her maiden
India Open Super Series title after notching up a dominating straight
game victory against former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand
in the summit clash here on Sunday.(Highlights)
The
London Olympic bronze medalist played like a champion to get the better
off a Intanon 21-16 21-14 in a battle that kept the crowd hooked from
the first point to the last at the Siri Sports Complex here.
Coming
into the match with a 5-3 overall advantage over her rival, Saina was
not tested much as the Indian was prepared for Intanon's deceptive game.
Saina
encountered her rival with her better movements and powerful and
accurate smashes to eventually wrest her second title of the season.
The
girl from Hyderabad, who has been on a roll ever since her victory at
the China Open, played like a champion as she anticipated her opponent's
moves and caught her on the wrong foot during rallies.
Intanon,
seeded third, seemed to be affected by her marathon semifinal match
against Carolina Marin of Spain which lasted for close to an hour and
and half yesterday.
The energy-sapping clash seemed to have made her movements slow on the court as she struggled with her returns.
The
deafening cheers of the near-packed house crowd which chanted 'India
India' and 'lets go Saina lets go', seemed to disrupt Intanon's
concentration as nothing went for her in the match.
Saina used her
powerful smashes and rode on her opponent's unforced errors to lead
11-5 early on. She was up for the deceptive drops and half smashes which Int-anon used to trouble the Indian.
After the break, Intanon gave
a glimpse of her superb game as she engaged in a long rally with the
Indian and her wristy dribbles to narrow the gap to 10-12.
However,
Saina didn't allow the Thai to threaten her as she anticipated well and
retrieved everything that was thrown at her end. She closed the points
with a smash whenever there was a chance.
Intanon had no answer to
Saina's accurate and powerful strokes as she ended up sending them wide
and long or at net to allow Saina gain a massive nine game point
advantage at 20-12.
Intanon saved four game points before Saina sealed the opening game when the Thai girl hit long.
The
change of side didn't alter anything as Saina once again rushed to a
5-0 lead. Intanon gained a few points with her half smashes and
deceptive strokes but the Indian still managed to zoom into the break
with a 11-6 lead.
After the break, Intanon caught Saina a few times at the forecourt but those were few as Saina raced to a 17-11 lead.
Intanon
reduced the gap to 18-14 but the Thai girl once again hit out twice to
first give Saina the match point and then the title.
Saina won the
Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold in Lucknow in January, before becoming the
first Indian women to reach the final of the All England Championships.
She achieved her dream of becoming the world number one yesterday after
Carolina Marin lost in the semifinals.
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