Saina Nehwal scripted a remarkable victory over reigning World Champion Carolina Marin to turn around her campaign at the BWF Super Series Finals even as Srikanth faced exit after suffering his second straight loss in the men's singles here on Thursday.
Facing early exit after her capitulation against Japan's Nozomi Okuhara yesterday, Saina rose like a phoenix to notch up a memorable 23-21, 9-21, 21-12 win over the World No. 1 in a women's singles match that lasted an hour and 15 minutes. The Indian plays defending champion Tai Tzu Ying in her final league match on Friday.
World No. 8 Srikanth's campaign is almost over after he went down 13-21, 18-21 to Denmark's Viktor Axelsen in a Group B match. His hope of progressing any further hinges on a match between Japan's Kento Momota and Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen.
The 22-year-old from Guntur will meet Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen tomorrow in his final Group B match in the round-robin stage.
In the women's singles match that saw a lot of vociferous cheering and vocal celebrations and pumping of fist, it was Saina who walked away with a smile on her face.
Saina came out with a positive attitude and it reflected in her game as she used her repertoire of strokes to tame her formidable opponent, who was not as nimble-footed as Okuhara and also committed too many errors on her forehand.
In the men's singles, Srikanth, who had beaten Viktor twice early this year en route to his triumph at Swiss Open and India Open, could not produce his best.
In the first game, World No 6 Viktor moved into a 6-3 lead in the opening game but Srikanth kept breathing down his neck and played some exciting rallies by mixing his shots. The Indian clawed back to level the scores after catching his rival in the forecourt.
However Viktor entered the break with a 11-10 lead after Srikanth misjudged a shuttle as it fell on the baseline.
A few unforced errors and some sharp strokes helped Viktor to swell the lead to 16-11 after the interval.