Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal dished out a dominating performance to post a straight-game win over two-time All England Champion Shixian Wang of China and start her campaign on a positive note at the season-ending BWF World Super Series badminton final in Dubai.
A 2011 finalist, Saina showed great temperament and good repertoire of strokes to tame the former World No.1 Shixian, who had beaten the Indian four times in their last five meetings.
The China Open winner, Saina prevailed 21-17, 21-18 over Shixian in a grueling women's singles match that lasted little less than an hour at the Hamdan Sports Complex.
Coming into the match, Saina held a 5-5 record against Shixian and kept the Chinese on a tight lease right from the start and the result was an intense battle of nerves.
The intensity of the clash was palpable as Saina produced a fast-paced game and engaged Shixian in rallies which drained out the Chinese. After a close fight till 7-7, Shixian picked up a couple of points at the deep backhand corner and forecourt of Saina to open up a slender 10-8 lead.
The Indian, however, didn't panic and gave a brilliant account of her temperament and preparation as she reeled off 10 straight points to move to 18-10.
Shixian grabbed three points before Saina produced an accurate smash which was initially called out but a video referral challenge ensured she got the crucial point. Shixian then handed the game point chance to Saina when she hit wide.
The Indian had a chance to close it next but she hit wide. Shixian then produced a clever shot and exploited Saina's back hand to grab two more points. Saina then handed over another point to Shixian when she made a judgement error at the baseline.
But Shixian hit long next after an intense rally as Saina earned the bragging right. The second game started on a similar note as the lead exchanged hands very frequently with both the players engaging in longer rallies and pushing the other to commit errors.
There was not much to differentiate between the two and it boiled down to accuracy in strokes.
World No.8 Kidambi Srikanth also started on a winning note. The highest-ranked Indian male shuttler, Srikanth, then had a tough outing against Kento Momota of Japan but the sixth-seeded player overturned a one-game deficit to win 15-21, 21-16, 21-10.
Srikanth, 21, who was a year older than his Japanese opponent, started off lazily to lose the first game but soon got the grip.
If the second game was fought hard then by the third Srikanth moved like a well-oiled machine to dispatch the Japanese.
Image: Saina Nehwal of India in action against Wang Shixian of China in the BWF Destination Dubai World Superseries Finals.
Photo: Christopher Lee/Getty Images for Falcon
