IANS/Lucknow
Top seed Saina Nehwal produced a brilliant performance to save two match points on the way to defeating reigning world champion Carolina Marin of Spain to retain the women’s singles title at the $120,000 Syed Modi International Badminton Championships here yesterday.
The World No.3 Nehwal outplayed the Spanish World No.7 to win the one-hour and 19-minute marathon final 19-21, 25-23, 21-16 and clinch the Grand Prix Gold crown at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium.
With the victory, Nehwal completed a hat-trick of wins against the second seeded Marin in as many meetings between them. Also, this is the Indian’s first title of 2015.
The Hyderabadi, who defeated compatriot PV Sindhu to win the same title here last year, did not start the match on a positive note as Marin raced away to a 5-2 lead.
The Indian came back strongly to win a number of points in the next few minutes to take a vital 15-7 advantage. Just when it was looking that Olympic bronze medallist Nehwal will seal the game, Marin showed her class to close the gap at 17-all.
The Spaniard carried the momentum with some deceptive shots which helped her to bag the first game 19-21.
The second game was a neck-and-neck affair from the word go and from 15-all, both the shuttlers raised their games, not allowing the other to take a comfortable lead.
It was here when the 24-year-old Indian crucially saved two match points. Marin hit back by saving the next two game points but on the third it was Nehwal who got the better of the Spaniard by winning her third game point which pushed the match into the decider.
The loss of the second game totally shifted the momentum in favour of Nehwal, who seized the initiative and dominated the third game to build a 15-7 lead. Though the reigning European champion tried fighting back, it was too much to ask from the 21-year-old as Nehwal closed out the encounter on her third match point.
