Saina Nehwal beat 13th seed Sayaka Takahashi of Japan 14-21, 21-18, 21-12 to reach the quarterfinals of the World Badminton Championship being played in Copenhagen.
Indian badminton star Saina Nehwal beat Japan's 13th seed Sayaka Takahashi in a tightly contested match on Thursday, fighting her way into the quarterfinals of the World Badminton Championship in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Despite falling behind quickly in the match after dropping the first game 21-14, Saina showed courage by working her opponent around and using the attacking smash at every opportunity. London Olympics bronze medallist Saina also defended well throughout the match.
However, the win didn't come easy as Saina's opponent Takahashi was unrelenting in her defense too and she took advantage of Saina's many unforced errors. While Saina led 7-5 at one stage in the second game, Takahashi quickly reversed the lead to go ahead 14-9 in the same game.
Saina, who was constantly under pressure in the match, was in no mood to give up however as she quickly levelled the score at 17-17 and then took the second game 21-18 to force a decider.
In the third and deciding game, Saina raced ahead to a 15-8 lead after some closely contested points.
Saina wrapped up the match 14-21, 21-18, 21-12 in her favour in the end.
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