Medal hope Saina Nehwal goes down to Ukrainian Maria Ulitina after failing to recover from injury; Sindhu, Srikanth shine on otherwise gloomy day for India
Saina Nehwal
Rio de Janeiro: The Indian contingent continued to reel under a series of disastrous results as Saina Nehwal, with a strapped right knee, took the exit route in women’s singles in badminton at the Group Stage itself. She went down in straight games to Ukrainian Maria Ulitina, who has never gone beyond Last 16 in a Super series event. Ulitina won 21-18, 21-19 in 40 minutes at the end of which Saina looked devastated.
Saina Nehwal serves to Maria Ulitina in Rio de Janeiro yesterday. Pic/AFP
ADVERTISEMENT
However, there was some good news for India from Srikanth Kidambi and PV Sindhu. Srikanth won his second singles in Group H to qualify for the next stage. He beat Swede Henri Hurskainen 21-6, 21-18 in 36 minutes. Later, Sindhu managed to eke out a 19-21, 21-15, 21-17 win over Glasgow Commonwealth Games champion Li Michelle in a gruelling 72-minute match.
Helpless
Meanwhile, Saina said, "My knee was taped. There is an inflammation which happened a week or so ago. We were hoping it would improve, but it did not improve enough.
"She (Ulitina) played well. This was the first time I was meeting here. But I was not able to move freely and it affected my game."
She did not elaborate on the injury more, though her coach, Vimal Kumar said, "She was just able to move around. She could not reach and could not bend properly. With this loss, Saina exited from the Olympics.
It was the third Olympic Games. She reached the quarters in Beijing in 2008 and earned a bronze in 2012. This time she failed to go beyond the Group stage. Looking in obvious discomfort and showing labored movement, Saina was just not able to get to the bird, as her taller opponent made her run around.
Impaired mobility
There was no time, when Saina held a handy lead and the Ukrainian, who has never played the former World No 1 before, capitalised on the impaired mobility of the Indian.
Tossing the shuttle to the backcourt and pinning her to the back, Ulitina, was also returning with amazing consistency.
But that was also because of Saina’s inability to find the line and the corners.
Standing five inches taller than the Indian, Ulitina more than once went down in her attempts to chase down the bird and was rewarded with points as Saina was unable to move.
It was almost ironic, that in her previous Olympic appearance, Saina had won the bronze medal as her injured Chinese rival in the bronze play-off withdrew after winning the first game in London.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
