Djarum Indonesia Open: Saina suffers bitter defeat; Schenk reaches finals

Saina Nehwal’s hopes of a successful title defence at the Djarum Indonesia Open – 2013 met with bitter disappointment at the gritty hands of the veteran Juliane Schenk. The Indian lost a pulsating semi-final in three games 21-12, 13-21, 14-21 to the determined German who made the most of her experience and court sense to outwit the defending champion in 52 minutes. It was a memorable come from behind victory for the 30-year-old, to make up for her loss in the quarters last year to Xuerui Li.

Schenk, who is on her own after cutting her ties with the German federation, showed early intent when she went straight at Saina to draw level at 2-2. The next point fell her way too when Saina let the shuttle drop at the back of the court, only to see it fall on the line.

After Saina went into the lead at 6-5, Juliane made clever use of court position to move her opponent side to side before killing the bird by dumping it in the forecourt. Incredibly the world No. 3 reeled away seven straight points to jump to a 12-6 lead.

A forehand error from the German offered a little breathing room to the Indian and Saina made good use of the break in the flow of the game to work her way back into the game. Schenk sent one long to allow Saina to even scores at 12-12.

A sharp drop to the feet of Schenk restored the lead to Saina. The world No.2 made good on the upswing by riding the wave cleverly, rustling her clearly rattled opponent racing through the points at a blistering pace. When Schenk failed to pick one off her backhand, ending in the net, Saina won an amazing 14 points in a row to earn game point.

She needed no more than one chance as she finished the game with a thumping smash to the forehand side of the German.

The peeved German used the ensuing frustration to her advantage, returning to the court with renewed commitment and purpose. The world No. 3 sought to reverse the decline and succeeded too, running up a 6-0 lead at the start of the second game.

Saina won the next two points but a backhand cross court from Juliane left the Indian slightly out of position. A powerful cross court smash off the German’s forehand gave her a six point cushion at 8-2. The defending champion responded with a couple of angled smashes of promise a fight at 4-10.

Saina won the longest and most intense rally of the match when Juliane mistimed a drive. But the German refused to step off the gas this time, smashing into the open court to take a comfortable 14-6 lead. The lead grew to eight again when Saina put too much behind a forehand pickup at the net to trail 8-16.

Juliane got within two of forcing a decider when Saina’s response sailed long at 18-9. Saina offered game point to her opponent when she sent a limping forehand into the net at 19-11. The match slipped into the decider two points later, when Juliane made an acutely angled drop just outside the reach of Saina.

A thundering smash straight into the midriff of the German set the tone for an engaging third game. Juliane struck the shuttle with her frame attempting a feathery drop, to leave the Indian leading at 3-1.

A dipping serve forced Saina to go underneath to give it elevation and the drift carried the shuttle long to signal another subtle shift in momentum. Schenk made good using a slice from the back of the court to induce an error from the Indian to take a 6-3 lead.

At 4-6, Saina used her skill at the net to hustle Schenk and draw closer, but a flat smash to the backhand of Saina turned over the serve to the German at 7-5. Schenk took the next three points to gain a clear edge on the final stretch and a fortuitous net cord took the players into the break at 11-5 in favour of the German.

Saina had a stroke of luck when Juliane ran around her backhand side to pick on a shuttle that was clearly destined to be wide, only to dump it in the net. It was 12-6 at this point and a lazy swish off Saina’s backhand to fall behind 7-14, left her with everything to do to protect her crown.

There was an intense moment at 10-14, when a Juliane smash appeared to brush Saina before it landed out, but the umpire refused to call. The German engaged her opponent in a conversation, but Saina would have nothing to do with her.

Juliane did a great job keeping her focus, despite that momentary setback to take the next two points and gain a five point lead at 16-11. Saina showed great agility at the net to feather a brilliant drop at the net to inch closer to her opponent.

At 17-14 to the German the end game was near, but it was still anybody’s match. Saina failed to put away an easy kill at the net and Schenk extended her lead to five again as she reached within two points of a memorable victory.

An intense rally followed and after moving each other around the court, Saina conceded match point to the German with a backhand at the net that landed just wide off the forecourt. Schenk ensured there was no further drama, dethroning the champion with a gentle touch at the net that left Saina barely any margin for a response to end the thrilling contest.

The German went down on knees overcome with joy as soon as Saina failed to pick the bird on the last point, as the emotion flowed through her moist eyes. Schenk will have a chance at Super Series glory when she takes on the winner of the other semi-final between the top seeded Xuerui Li and the enterprising Pui Yin Yip on Sunday.