Saina accuses opponent Yip Pui Yin of Gamesmanship in last night's QF tie which the Indian lost
Saina accuses opponent Yip Pui Yin of Gamesmanship in last night's QF tie which the Indian lost
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Saina Nehwal did two things wrong in last night's women's singles quarter-final of the Asian Games against Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong. She started badly and finished even worse going down 8-21, 21-8, 19-21. In between, she did the opposite of what the doctor ufffd read coach Pullela Gopichand ufffd had ordered, and paid the price by finishing out of the medals in a sport that hails her as the No 3 in the world.
Saina played Game One as though the soles of her shoes were stuck to the plexicourt surface of the Tianhe Gymnasium. She was immovable and within no time, Yip raced away to a 21-8 score ufffd Saina still struggling to find her feet as Yip made her 11th smash winner to take Game One.
Comeback
Saina crawled back into the contest in Game Two, but going by the Indian's hesitance to attack, Game Three was always going to be tough. And more so after World No 17, Yip, noticing her senior pro's sluggish start, began employing gamesmanship tactics to distract her. And the 23-year-old succeeded in putting off her younger opponent.
"She always does that. She will ask for a shuttle check or make some excuse to delay the point, so that she can catch a break in between and get a breather," Saina told MiD DAY. When asked if Yip did succeed in irritating her, Saina replied: "Gamesmanship can upset the best of players because rhythm is affected. I never employ such tactics."
After losing as many as 10 points at the net in Game One, and thereafter being advised by Gopichand to avoid net-play, Saina didn't, and ended up losing another nine points in the decider. "He (Gopichand) told me to be patient and not to play too much at the net, but I kept playing there," Saina admitted.
In contrast, Yip, the Doha Asian Games silver-medallist was flinging herself across both sides of the court ufffd a la Boris Becker ufffd to successfully retrieve some of Saina measured placements.
Saina was in fact, leading late in the decider ufffd this after trailing 5-8 at one stage ufffd at
16-14 but another down the line smash from Yip caught the Indian on the wrong foot once more.
Finally, down matchpoint, Saina who hitherto was serving high and long, decided to serve short and that only proved too short in the end.
The Indian also admitted that the Hong Kong girl had surprised her with transformation since the two last met.
"I've beaten her last year but there has been a great change in her game. She is much more attacking now and that surprised me," said Saina.
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