Saina Nehwal has made an exit from the BWF Malaysia Masters 2019 after losing to Carolina Marin in the semi-final. Saina was completely dominated by the World No.6 Spanish champion in the first Super Series of the year and lost by 21-16, 21-13 to crash out of the tournament. She was the lone Indian left at the tournament after Kidambi Srikanth lost the quarterfinal yesterday.
PV Sindhu opted not to play the tournament. Marin will now face the winner of the Ratchanok Intanon and Goh Jin Wei match in the final.
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Saina Nehwal vs Carolina Marin
Was not up to the mark today in the match … but will try again next week to do well .. congratulations to @carolinamarin for playing so well today 👍 16-21 13-21 #malaysiamasterssuper500 #semifinals .. looking forward to indonesia open next week 🙏.. pic.twitter.com/i33MpMbjqs
— Saina Nehwal (@NSaina) January 19, 2019
Saina started the match on the front foot, racing to a 5-2 lead early in the match. But Marin soon made a comeback and levelled the things up before taking the lead in the first game. Saina then got back into the scheme of things with several cross-court smashes that unsettled the Spaniard.
During the first break, Marin was leading 11-9. After the break, Marin started to dominate the proceedings. Saina gained one or two points here and there but she never managed to string together a series of points. Marin eventually took the first game 21-16 after an impressive return on Saina’s serve.
The second game started in the same fashion as the first ended with Marin dominating Saina with her speed and power. Saina wasn’t able to get her game together as she committed unforced errors. Marin had the answer to everything Saina threw at her and only gave her points due to some unforced errors.
There was a brief controversy at 7-3 when Marin went to wipe her sweat with a towel. Saina also wanted to do the same but wasn’t allowed by the referee, who concluded that Marin had asked permission for it. Again at the interval, Marin had taken a substantial 11-6 lead over Saina.
After the break, Marin looked unstoppable as she raced to an 18-11 lead in just a few minutes. Saina had no answer to her returns. The Spanish shuttler took the match 21-16, 21-13 to reach the final of the tournament.
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