Saina becomes first Indian to win Super Series

Saina Nehwal

NEW DELHI: Ace woman shuttler Saina Nehwal scripted history by becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament after she clinched the Indonesian Open title with a stunning victory over higher ranked Chinese Lin Wang in Jakarta.

Saina clinched her maiden Super Series title beating Wang 12-21 21-18 21-9 in an edge-of-the-seat thriller that lasted 49 minutes.

Her triumph is the best ever performance by any Indian woman and at par with All England Championship titles won by Prakash Padukone and her current coach Pullela Gopichand.

In the thrilling final, world number eight Saina came from behind to outsmart world number three Wang and avenge her last week's Singapore Open Super Series loss to the same rival.

Saina took time to get into the groove as she struggled to gauge the gameplan of Wang in the first game. Moments after pulling off the biggest title victory of her career, Saina Nehwal said the triumph at the Indonesian Super Series was a "dream come true" but she never expected it to come at such an early age.

In the decider, Saina was in her attacking best besides displaying better nerves in crucial moments.

After moving neck and neck till 7-7, Saina went berserk by engaging her rival in soft dribble and net play to widen the gap at 15-9 before reeling off six straight points to seal her place in history.

Hailing Saina's victory as an important milestone in Indian badminton, Badminton Association of India announced a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh as recognition of her feat.

"It is a big moment in Indian badminton. We are proud of her achievement. We are announcing a cash reward of Rs two lakhs as an acknowledgment of Saina's hard work and achievement," BAI president V K Verma said.