Heartbreak for Saina Nehwal

MUMBAI: If blowing up a 11-3 lead in the decider of the quarterfinal defeat at the Beijing Olympics still hurts Saina Nehwal, Friday's loss to World No. 3 Lu Lan will also rankle the teenager.
After all, it's not everyday that an Indian stands a fair chance of slaying two top Chinese shuttlers in a row. Saina, who stunned world champion Zhu Lin 22-20, 11-21, 21-11 in a 56-minute pre-quarterfinal late on Thursday returned to the court a little after 14 hours and looked like toppling Lu when she led 17-13 in the decider.
However, the 21-year-old Chinese logged in eight straight points to book a semifinal berth in the Swiss Open in Basel on Friday. The score finally reading 18-21, 21-8, 21-17 in the third seed's favour.
With Saina's loss the Indian challenge at the $200,000 Super Series event came to an end as Chetan Anand too went down 21-9, 20-22, 17-21 to Chinese Taipei's Yu Hsin Hsieh in the pre-quarterfinals late on Thursday.
Although Saina, ranked No. 9 in the world, let slip the advantage against the former All England finalist, there was very little to choose between the two players in their first meeting. The 18-year-old found herself trailing 1-6 early on in the match with Lu maintaining the point difference deeper into the first game. Saina levelled scores at 16-all and then fought tooth and nail to seal the advantage.
Lu got off to a 7-1 lead again in the second game, but this time the former world bronze medallist was in no mood for mercy. She levelled the match in 31 minutes.
The decider was a neck-and-neck affair with Saina opening up a 14-9 lead. The Indian later got herself in a more comfortable position, but Lu's brilliance and stamina denied Saina a famous win. Earlier in the wee hours of Friday, Saina humbled world champion Zhu for the second time in six months to tie the head-to-head at 2-2.