Yihan holds off Saina surge

World No.4 Saina Nehwal raised visions of a memorable title win but eventually capitulated to world No.1 Wang Yihan in the summit clash of the World Superseries Finals at Liu Zhou, China, on Sunday. The 18-21 21-13 21-13 result meant Saina had to be content with a lone title – the Swiss Open GP Gold – for 2011.Yihan’s win ensured that four of the five titles at stake on Sunday went to China. The only non-Chinese to win was the Danish pair of Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen, who effected a dramatic comeback in the first game to outmanoevre Chai Biao/ Guo Zhengdong 25-23 21-7.Saina might have lost, but the match was far closer than the score suggests. She outclassed Yihan in the early part of the match, using pinpoint deep tosses and powerful half-smashes to leave Yihan gasping. At 11-5, it was looking one-sided, but Yihan slowly found her way back. The match then became a fascinating mental chess game, with each player testing the other with deep tosses and attempting to open up spaces to exploit. Rallies seemed to go for 30 strokes or more, with each player exhibiting great athleticism and retrieving ability. Saina was able to pin Yihan back with her attacking tosses and cut off the returns near the forecourt, eventually taking the first game 21-18.The exchanges continued much the same way in the early part of the second game. From 11-all, however, Yihan slowly began to power ahead. She kept forcing Saina to play the extra winner, refusing to yield despite being beaten, and finding her own whippy winners at acute angles. With a greater range of strokes than the Indian, the Chinese girl slowly began to gain on Saina. She cantered through to the second game, and powered on with that momentum in the third.Still, Saina can look back at a successful campaign where she reached her first major final in several months. That she beat players of the class of Bae Youn Joo (no.9), Sayaka Sato, Wang Xin (no.3) and Tine Baun (No.5) means that she is back to her best. She can thus look forward to 2012 with renewed zeal.Here is the live text commentary by Sportskeeda:

https://www.sportskeeda.com/2011/12/18/saina-nehwal-vs-world-no-1-live-streaming-and-commentary-superseries-finals/