[1]Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal put behind a nervy start to clinch the second Super Series title of her career by winning the Singapore Open with a straight-game triumph over qualifier Tzu Ying Tai in the final here on Sunday.
Top seed Saina took just 33 minutes to beat Chinese Taipei’s Tai 21-18, 21-15 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The world number six had bagged her maiden Super Series title in June last year when she claimed the top honours at the Indonesian Open.
“I never expected to reach the finals as there were two good Chinese players in the draw but I believed in myself and got the result I wanted,” the jubilant 20-year-old said.
The in-form Saina came here after winning the India Open Grand Prix Gold title last week. “The Indian Open gave me the confidence to play well here,” she said.
In a match that was a close affair to start with, Saina was locked 18-18 with her rival after trailing 8-14 at one stage. But Saina clinched the opening game with seven smash winners to show against her rival’s three.
In the second game, Saina displayed a better net game and outwitted Tai in rallies to emerge triumphant. Saina said she kept gaining in confidence as the match progressed.
“I was nervous at the start of the match but I maintained my strategy of playing more rallies. I was down 8-14 in the first game but I just told myself that ‘play your best and give your 100 per cent’. I think that really worked well for me,” she added.
Saina said her opponent, despite being a qualifier, had some tricks to unsettle her. Saina’s ranking is expected to improve with this triumph but the Hyderabadi said climbing the charts is not her priority right now.
“It will help my rankings but that’s not my focus right now. My focus is on the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games. I might go into top four but that doesn’t bother me much. I am very happy that I won the tournament. Next is the Indonesian Open and I want to give my best in that,” she said.
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