Saina Nehwal does India proud

Saina Nehwal does India proud

Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal notched up a massive win at the Australian Open Super Series women's single title by defeating World Number 11 Carolina Marin in a straight-game victory. She bagged Us $750,000 as prize money. Nehwal battled the final in 43 minutes as she outdid Spain's Marin in a 21-18,21-11 win at Sydney.

Nehwal earlier won the Indian Open Grand Prix Gold at Delhi. This is her second title this year. Ace Indian shuttler Nehwal has prevailed in a 43 minute contest that was fast paced. The sixth seeded player has stolen a march over her rival through a spellbinding performance.

Here's a description of how the match between the two progressed into an exciting finale. 24 year old Saina Nehwal enjoyed a 1-0 head to head record against Marin in the match. She logged the first point and displayed deft net play against her contender through impeccably timed volleys. She took a 5-2 lead in the opening game.

21 year old Marin lost to the Indian player who is 3 years her senior in a match that left no stone unturned. From displaying her feisty manner of playing with no holds barred to taking bold yet well calculated moves, Marin did not give up the fight. She closed the gap to 6-8 yet could not notch up comfort levels every time Saina took her game to a higher level.

Marin also committed a service error which played in Saina's favour. This was in the interval leading to 11-7 after a rally where the Spanish player smashed the shuttle wide. Marin raised her game levels and decibels following the break. By then, Saina had taken the game to an amazing level and returned Marin's smashes with intensity that was unbeatable.

In between, the Spanish player also played some good strokes yet they never reached the level that could beat Saina at 17-12. Her strong determination to be a skilled contender met its match in Saina's quiet yet confident strokes.

Following every claimed point, Saina held her composure against the Spanish player's determined charge. Marin eventually managed to take a 3-1 lead to begin with yet could not come into the fray because Saina was guarding against any such possibility.

Saina also expressed her emotions after the clinched points and raced to an 11-4 lead against Marin. Following this interval, Saina stepped up the pressure leading to induced errors from Marin. Saina also produced some amazing trademark smashes to give Marin a challenge that was hard to beat.

There were some close calls. At one point in the match when Saina was leading 19-9, Saina challenged a line call that was not in favour of her yet replays displayed the shuttle had landed wide. Marin lobbed the shuttle wide leading to the final moments when Saina triumphed in a victory for India that is memorable.