Saina Nehwal loses to Li Xuerui at China Open Superseries Final

Nehwal last met Li at the semifinals of the Malaysia Open Superseries this year, losing that match

Top seeded and reigning champion at the China Open superseries, India’s Saina Nehwal went down in straight games to China’s Li Xuerui, who is currently world no. 4.

Nehwal went down in straight games to the Chinese shuttler, with Li winning 21-12, 21-15.

This was the pair’s 12th meeting overall, with Li taking 10 of those victories including her title win today. It’s the Chinese shuttler’s 2nd championship title of the year after she won the Denmark Open Superseries Premier earlier in the year, beating India’s PV Sindhu to the title.

The last meeting between the pair was at this year’s Malaysian Open superseries, where Li bested the Indian in the semi-finals.

Li is also the reigning Olympic champion after winning gold at the 2012 London Games, beating her compatriot Wang Yihan in a 3-game match. Nehwal, who also participated in the games, took bronze at the women’s singles behind Wang.

Hyderabad-based Nehwal is a sporting icon for the nation – in addition to being one of only two Indians who reached the World No. 1 ranking, she is the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships, and was also the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament.

She remains the only woman in Indian sport history to have reached the top rank in badminton.

Nehwal, who was formerly world no. 1, dropped, regained and lost the top spot after a short run of losses, replaced by her rival and former number one Carolina Marin of Spain.