London: After going down valiantly in the semi-final clash against world No. 1 Wang Yihan on Friday, Saina Nehwal will compete for the bronze medal against China's Wang Xin on Saturday.
Saina, the first Indian shuttler to play in an Olympic semi-final, lost 21-13 21-13 to Yihan. Meanwhile, Li Xuerui secured an all-China final in the women's badminton singles by defeating second-seeded compatriot Xin 22-20 21-18.
Li will now meet top seed Yihan in the final while Xin will lock horns with Saina to notch up the bronze medal.
Saina tried her best against the World No.1, who moved better on the court and was relentless in her attack during the 39-minute contest. A slew of unforced errors by Saina, especially towards the end, contributed to her downfall.
The Indian shuttler took time to get her feet moving while the Chinese covered the court like a gazelle. From 4-4 in the first game, Wang raced to an 11-6 lead by the first break with some power-packed smashes. She won most of the long rallies through her flawless court coverage and commendable retrieving. Her soft smashes left the Indian despairingly lunging to reach.
Saina managed a minor recovery from 9-18 to take the next four points, but that was not enough to trouble the champion. Wang went a game up with a forehand smash which Saina got late on.
Saina went on the offensive, moving much faster on the court. She used the high toss to advantage, though she also went over the baseline a couple of times. The approach helped her recover from a 3-6 deficit to take a slender lead at 11-10.
With the scoreline reading 13-13, Wang went on the overdrive, reeling off the next eight points to close out the match. To go with the errors, dodgy judgment on the lines also cost the Indian the game and the match.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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