Denmark Open: Saina Nehwal stages stunning comeback to outclass Nozomi Okuhara and advance to the semis

Indian ace shuttler Saina Nehwal battled her way past Japanese Nozomi Okuhara to advance into the semi-finals of the Denmark Open on Friday.
Going down by a game at the beginning of the contest, Saina fought back in a strong fashion to win the next two matches to hand the eighth-seeded Japanese a shocking defeat. Winning the contest 17-21, 21-16, 21-12, Saina thus books for herself a match against Mariska Tunjung in the semis.

This stunning comeback win from the Hyderabadi shuttler came on the back of a strong show against world number two Akane Yamaguchi as she romped to a win over her favoured opponent for the very first time in four years.

Also read: Denmark Open: Saina Nehwal upsets second seed Akane Yamaguchi to enter quarter-finals

Saina, who was unseeded in the competition had a less convincing win over Okuhara but the way she fought back after losing the first game was something indeed praiseworthy.

She trailed from the very beginning in the first game and couldn’t really do anything as she lost it 17-21.

But the second game saw a different Saina altogether as she closed down the gap after Okuhara had raced to a 7-3 lead. But soon, she fell back as the Japanese took a 10-6 lead.
Hardly did anyone know or even predict that it would be the start of Saina’s dominance in the contest. She quickly won the next four points to level things at 10-10 and took a lead of her own at 15-12. She went on to win the game 21-16 to take the riveting contest to a decider where she ran riot once again.

She took a dominant lead at 12-3 with six points on the trot and eventually ended as the winner of the contest.

Image credit-Free Press Journal