Saina Nehwal won a bronze medal in Glasgow. Saina Nehwal won a bronze medal in Glasgow.

Saina Nehwal moved brilliantly on the court. The defence was top notch from the Indian badminton star but as the match progressed, she began to wear out. So much so that she failed to keep the momentum she had in the first game failed to advance to her second final of World Badminton Championships. Last year, he ended up winning the silver medal after a heartbreaking loss to Carolina Marin of Spain. An year later, she has to settle for bronze.

The London Olympic bronze medallist was up against a young Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in the semi-finals on Saturday. Playing like vintage Saina, the Indian raced off to a big lead in the first game and won it 21-12. But, the big comeback from Japanese was a bit of a surprise. Okuhara played probably the best badminton and took a 11-10 lead the break before sealing the second comeback 21-17.

While she took only 22 minutes to win the first game, the second, a neck-to-neck tussle, was stretched to the limits and Okuhara won it in 27 minutes.

The third game was an repeat of the first, the only difference being that this time Okuhara dominated. Both players The Japanese upped her game to lead by seven points at the break. The breakthrough moment helped her regain some ground and she did it well. Banking on her lead, she controlled the rallies in the final game.

By the time Saina tried to make a comeback, it was little too late and she ended up given the game 21-10 and the match 21-12, 17-21 10-21 to end up being the bronze medallist at the World Championships in Glasgow. This will be her second medal at this stage.

Nokuhara, on her part, created history for Japan as she became the first women’s singles player from the nation to reach the final of the World Championships. She will face the winner of second semi-final which will be played between India’s PV Sindhu and Chen Yuifei.

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