Saina, Diju-Jwala crash out of Korea Open

World No.4 Saina Nehwal suffered a disappointing straight games loss to China’s Jiang Yanjiao in the quarterfinals of the Korea Open Premier Superseries, the richest prize money event in badminton. Saina fell 21-17 21-10 to the sixth seed in the season-opening tournament. There was more bad news for India, as V Diju and Jwala Gutta came up short against the in-form Joachim Fischer and Christinna Pedersen of Denmark. The Indians lost 21-19 21-12.Meanwhile, in the men’s singles, top seed Lee Chong Wei booked a semifinals spot against China’s Du Pengyu. His nemesis Lin Dan overcame a tough fight from Denmark’s Jan O Jorgensen, and will now play Sho Sasaki of Japan in the semis.Saina took an early lead but Yanjiao caught up at 8-all and from then on maintained a comfortable distance over the Indian. Although Saina earned more smash winners (five) compared to her opponent (two), the Chinese girl was more consistent.The second game was all Yanjiao. From 7-6 she powered ahead, winning six consecutive points, and from then on there was no doubting who the winner would be.Meanwhile, Diju-Jwala’s first game against Fisher-Pedersen was a thriller. The two teams kept neck-and-neck, with the margin not increasing beyond two points, until 17-all. The Danes shot up from there and took the game 21-19. The second game, however, ended tamely for the Indians as the Danes went on the offensive from 8-all and wrapped up the match.