This is the “best phase of my life”, said Saina Nehwal after clinching her maiden India Open Super Series title at Siri Fort Sports Complex here on Sunday. The fans hadn’t even stopped gushing over Saina’s victory that Kidambi Srikanth doubled the happiness by winning his maiden India Open title in men’s singles, beating Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 18-21, 21-13, 21-12.
In front of a packed stadium, Saina made short work of 2013 champion Ratchanok Intanon winning 21-16, 21-14 in only 49 minutes. The win seemed so easy that even Saina was surprised.
“It’s a burden off my head. Over the past four years, I had been struggling and losing in the pre-quarters or quarters but this time I got to my first Final and won it. Too many surprises in just this week but I’m very happy,” she said.
In the first set, Saina led 4-0 with Intanon slow off the blocks. Saina’s command showed with a thumping smash finding the line to take a 9-5 lead. Both players were involved in a long rally after the interval with Saina playing a soft dribble at the net and then a cleverly disguised drop shot that found Intanon on wrong foot. Up 13-11, Saina bagged six points in a row to take a commanding lead over her Thai opponent. Within minutes, she had eight game points but she missed four consecutive points only to get the job done on the fifth after Intanon’s backhand sailed over the back line as the crowd went ballistic. In the second game, Saina went up 5-0 before Intanon clawed her way back to see the Indian lead 11-6 at the interval. The noise was deafening inside the stadium as Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ blared over the system.
From then on, Saina stayed strong and judged Intanon’s mistakes perfectly to go on to win the encounter on the first attempt. Jubilation was showing on her face as she went to hug her coach Vimal Kumar. later in the evening, Srikanth, who had beaten Axelsen at the Swiss Open earlier this month made it 2-0 over his rival. He capitalised on Axelsen’s lapse in concentration in the second and third games to win from an overall convincing position. Down 13-19 in the first, Srikanth won the next five points but it wasn’t enough as he lost the first game. From then on, it was all Srikanth. He took the second set after Axelsen’s error count continued to rise. It was neck and neck in the third till 13-12 but that is when it all went downhill for World No. 6 Axelsen. He made a pointless challenge, which was easily in, and the mental strength of the Dane collapsed completely. He lost the next eight points and the match handing Srikanth the title.
