Indian challenge ended at the Australian Open Super Series after ace shuttler Saina Nehwal suffered a straight-game defeat against China’s Shixian Wang in the women’s singles quarterfinals of the badminton tournament here on Friday.
World No.1 Saina failed to stick to her game plan and suffered a 15-21, 13-21 loss to two-time All England Champion and fifth seed Shixian in a 41-minute clash. It was Saina’s sixth defeat against the Chinese in 12 meetings.
In the opening game, Saina had grabbed a slender lead of 4-2 but Shixian soon wrested control of the match and went into the break at 11-8. In the second game, Shixian once again opened up a three-point lead at 6-3. The Indian tried to arrest the slide and went neck and neck from 6-6 to 10-10 but after that the Chinese moved ahead with giant steps to once again leave Saina behind.
‘didn’t reject Jwala, Ashwini for TOP scheme’
New Delhi: The Sport Ministry on Friday made it clear that it never ignored ace doubles shuttlers Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa for the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme, saying the Identification Committee had considered their names during the meeting held last month.
A source said: “The Identification Committee has not rejected their names. It is unfair to blame Gopichand, a Member of the Identification Committee for the decision of the Committee taken in this case as all decisions of the Committee have been taken collectively.”
“The process of inclusion of names under the TOP Scheme is not yet over. Also, the athletes who have not so far been included under the TOPS have also been receiving assistance from the Govt. under its normal scheme of Assistance to National Sports Federations.”