Saina, Jwala-Diju lose in French Super Series

The Indian challenge ended in the French Super Series badminton tournament after Saina Nehwal and the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju crashed out following defeats in the quarter-finals in Paris.

Eighth seed Saina squandered a first game lead and went down to top seed Chinese Wang Lin 21-15, 11-21, 15-21 in a 49-minute battle in the women's singles on Friday.

The sixth seeded Indian pair of Jwala and Diju also played their hearts out before going down to the Indonesian combo of Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir 21-6, 20-22, 10-21 in 42 minutes.

Saina played better at the net but couldn't negotiate the powerful smashes of her opponent, who scored 14 points compared to her nine.

In the first game, Saina opened a 5-0 lead and pushed Lin on the backfoot, leaving the Chinese to do the catch up act till the end.

However, the Lin bounced back in the second game and first opened a 3-0 lead and then widened it from 3-2 to 10-2 before pocketing the game.

In the decider, the Indian ace failed to raise her game and after being tied 2-2, Lin coasted to victory.