The Indian's All-England dream lay shattered, following an error-strewn performance, despite winning the first game
European champion Carolina Marin became the first Spaniard to win the All-England badminton championship when she defeated India's Saina Nehwal 16-21, 21-14, 21-7 in the final, in Birmingham, on Sunday.
It was her first victory over Nehwal in four meetings. The Indian ace had enjoyed a 3-0 win-loss count against the Spanish girl.
In the process, Marin added to the World title she won in August and also became the first left-hander in 20 years to win the championship.
"It is an amazing feeling. I was making too many easy mistakes and was really nervous at the start, but I just wanted to enjoy it," said Marin, after her 62-minute triumph.
"In the second game, and at 11-9 down, I felt there was a chance and that I could win. To beat Saina is a great thing," the Spaniard added.
Nehwal, an Olympic bronze medallist, thus failed to emulate her long-time coach Pullela Gopichand (2001) and the legendary Prakash Padukone (1980) who won the prestigious title in the past.
Nehwal, who has competed at the All England since 2007, had never lost to Marin and looked on course for an encore before the world No. 6 scripted a remarkable comeback in the second game to put paid to the Indian's hopes at the Barclaycard Arena.
After dominating the opening game completely, Nehwal led 11-9 in the second, but lost steam after the break, as Marin fought back brilliantly and won eight of the last nine points.
In the decider, Marin stamped her authority with sharp smashes and better movement to make it a one-sided contest as Nehwal only watched her hopes go up in smoke.
"The game just went away from me," admitted Nehwal.
"I was playing very cool but I began to hurry my shots and I made errors. I tried to play it safe."
Nehwal, who had defeated Marin in the final of the Syed Modi international at Lucknow in January, started as the hot favourite.
She took off with an unforced error, but soon brought out her power-packed smashes to lead 4-2.
The left-handed Marin conceded points in unforced errors, allowing Nehwal take an 8-4 lead. However, each time the Spaniard won a point her celebration was vocal, perhaps to put mental pressure on the Indian.
Nehwal exploited the chinks in Marin's defence as she drew her close to the net and gathered points to go into the break with a 11-6 lead.
The Spaniard showed her class through her exceptional smashes and soft touch at the net but they faded in front of the brilliance of the Indian, who led 14-8.
Nehwal moved to game-point at 20-11 when Marin found the net.
The Spaniard, however, was not going to give it away easily and saved four straight game points before the Indian closed out the first game with a brutal smash.
The second game saw the duo play some exciting rallies early on, but Nehwal's dominance was written all over as she led 6-1.
Marin reduced the gap to 5-6, but Nehwal waited for her to commit errors and went into the interval with a 11-9 lead.
After the break, Marin swung the momentum her way as she varied the pace and fought fire with fire in the rallies to quickly get into the lead at 12-11 for the first time in the match.
She increased the gap to 17-14 with the help of better placement and accurate strokes. She moved into a six-points' advantage with a smash and then roared back into the contest when the Indian hit wide.
In the decider, Marin again led 3-1 early on and soon zoomed to a 6-2 lead as there was a visible change in Nehwal's demeanour. Her strokes went wayward, her service returns went wide and movement grew slower.
Marin's smashes caught the Indian napping on more than one occasion and another unforced error meant the Spaniard led 11-4 at the break.
The pressure of playing in the final probably got to Nehwal as her game crumbled inexplicably.
In the end, it was a down-the-line smash from Marin that put the lid on her All-England dreams.
