India’s Saina Nehwal thrashed German Juliane Schenk in straight games to emerge triumphant in the Denmark Open Super Series in Odense on Sunday, says a report in The DNA, adding that the World No 4, seeded third at the event, packed off the World No 7 in just 35 minutes, winning 21-17 21-8.
“The title was the Hyderabadi’s fourth of the year. And the best part is that Nehwal hasn’t lost a final in 2012 — she won the Swiss Open in March, and followed that up with back-to-back titles in Thailand and Indonesia in June. Sunday’s triumph made her richer by $30,000. Nehwal had beaten World No 1 Yihan Wang in Saturday’s semifinal tie. It was her first victory over the Chinese ace in seven attempts,” says the report, adding that the 22-year-old was playing for the first time since her bronze medal-winning performance at the London Olympics.
More importantly, her win was a telling riposte to those who thought she was ‘wasting’ time attending felicitations and promotional events all over the country. “I thank Denmark and the Indian fans here for supporting me. I never expected to win this tournament,” Nehwal said. “There were a lot of things which I did after the Olympics which made me fresh, but every tournament is tough. My right knee was not really in perfect shape but I thank god for giving me the energy to win the title,” said Saina.
"There were a lot of things which I did after the Olympics which made me fresh but every tournament is tough," said Saina, reports Hindustan Times, adding, "My right knee was not in perfect shape but I thank god for giving me the energy to win the title."
“Saina's brisk start was countered by the German, who equalised at 12-12. Energy-sapping rallies saw the two players use deception, power, pace and skill to unnerve the other. Schenk has a reputation of being a fighter, and Saina had to dig deep to find ways of docking points off her. Saina won the game 21-17, but in the second, Schenk unleashed her powerful smashes. Saina did lose a few points initially, but matched the German in power to compensate for them. She raced ahead to a comfortable 17-8 lead - a gap too large for Schenk to bridge. After her shots found the net thrice to bring the Indian on match point, Schenk did something quite uncharacteristic. She did not attempt to return Saina's serve, finally giving in to the third-seeded Indian's blitzkrieg,” says the HT report.
“The tournament featured nine out of the world's top 10 women shuttlers but the Chinese players suffered shock defeats, with Schenk and Saina taking out the last two in the semis. Saina did not drop a game in this event and the title is all the more special as her nemesis, Wang Yihan of China, whom she had never beaten before, retired during their match. The Hyderabadi will now participate in the French Open Super Series in Paris next week, where she has been given the top billing,” says the report.
Meanwhile The Times Of India reports that Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal breezed past Germany's Juliane Schenk 21-17, 21-8 to clinch the prestigious Denmark Open title, a Super Series Premier event, on Sunday.
“It promptly lifted the third seed into a higher stratosphere, making her the top seed for the French Open starting on Tuesday. This is Saina's 18th international triumph, adding to her wins in Thailand and Indonesia earlier in June to already make 2012 a remarkable year for her. After scaling the Chinese Wall, in the form of past nemesis world No. 1 Wang Yihan, there was only way she could lose this final: by becoming complacent or making too many unforced errors,” adding that she was in no mood for that, stamping her authority on the match comfortably.
The 35-minute victory fetched her a purse of $30,000, and her second Super Series Premier trophy.