London: Outclassed by a clearly superior rival, Saina Nehwal tamely lost to the top-seeded Yihan Wang of China in the women’s singles semi-final of the Olympics on Friday, acknowledging later that the Chinese was “too fast” for her.
World No. 5 Saina, the first Indian to reach the Olympic semi-final in the shuttle game, was beaten 13-21, 13-21 by the world’s top women’s badminton player in a match that lasted 42 minutes before a packed Wembly Arena where Indian supporters outshouted the Chinese.
Saina can still hope to win an Olympic bronze in a play-off with yet another Chinese player Li Xuerui, who defeated compatriot Xin Wang in a closely fought second semi-final 22-20, 21-18, played immediately after Saina-Yihan clash. The Indian will meet the World No. 3 Chinese tomorrow.
Clearly off colour, the Hyderabadi girl was never in the match except for brief moments in the second set. She was unable to draw her rival into rallies and could not hold her service for long.
The taller Wang moved swiftly on the court, never allowing Saina to engage in rallies which is her strength. The longest rally of the match lasted 38 seconds and the average rally just 10 seconds.
“Wang was simply too fast for me. I was not moving well on the court and she exploited that. I made some errors in crucial stages which did not help me,” Saina said.
“I tried hard in some areas but she just did not allow me to settle down and engage in rallies. She was finishing off quickly and was coming upto the net to attack. I could not counter that kind of a game,” Saina explained.
This was Yihan’s sixth victory over Saina in as many encounters.
Lin-Lee in final
Friday also saw two of badminton’s biggest players set themselves up for a highly-anticipated clash in the final.
Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei powered through their semifinals: Lin Dan ran over Lee Hyun-il of South Korea 21-12, 21-10, and Chong Wei beat Chen Long of China 21-13, 21-14.
“I’m really happy that I get to meet my old opponent as we are the same age and we get to play at the final of the Olympics,” Lin said.
“I hope we can get to our potential and achieve our medal dreams and I want to wish Lee luck in that, too.”
“I didn’t expect to win because my preparation has only been 50 percent,” Lee said. “But when it was 11-4 I played more confidently. I worked hard until I could kill the shuttle.”
Ten weeks ago he didn’t think he’d play the Olympics when he tore ankle ligaments and was carried off in a wheelchair at the Thomas Cup in China. But daily treatment of 13 hours and a resolve like no other has got him playing for Olympic gold again and it is fitting that he will come up againt Lin. (Agencies)