World No.1 Saina Nehwal of India overcame Sun Yu in three games on Friday, the first time in two weeks when she was stretched. (Source: AP)

By: Express News Service & PTI

Soon after her gold-winning triumph and medal-ceremony at the London Games, Olympic champ Xuerui Li had addressed a packed house of Chinese media. Upon spotting a handful of Indian scribes, the 24-year-old had quickly looked towards the translator to convey her congratulations to Saina Nehwal — India’s first-ever Olympic medallist in badminton.

She had waved off questions on compatriot Xin Wang’s retirement during the bronze-playoff owing to injury, adding graciously that Nehwal had persevered through the tournament and worked hard to prevail for the bronze medal to join the Chinese 1-2 on the podium.

The two-time World Champion had taken the edge off what was a combustible rivalry between Nehwal and the Chinese pack — notably silver medallist Yihan Wang, to emerge as a popular and likeable winner.

On Saturday at the Putra Stadium in Malaysia, a couple of seasons after that London evening and four further losses for the Indian later (head-to-head 8-2 for the Chinese), Nehwal and Xuerui will meet as champion and challenger of a different kind. Nehwal is in the form of her life, and perched at the top of the rankings — reaching the All England finals, while Xuerui is still shrugging off a foot injury and dropped to No.3 in the rankings after going out in Round 2 at Birmingham. Both girls display protective and preventive strappings — the Indian on the shoulder and Xuerui on her knees — but will line up for Nehwal’s biggest inquisition post being crowned World No.1.

Going forward, the semifinal clash will be a pointer of things to come as the two battle-seasoned campaigners cross swords — Nehwal trying to hold tight to the No.1 spot, and Xuerui who held it for two years from December 2012 to December 2014, attempting to reclaim it from the Indian rival.

In the quarters on Friday, the 25-year-old Indian played her first three-setter in two weeks of Super Series play, against lanky Sun Yu. Winning a nervy 21-11, 18-21, 21-17 battle in an 1 hour and 11 minutes, where both players lapsed into periods of unforced error-sprees, Nehwal ended with an impish grin when she lucked out on the decisive point.

Marathon rally

A 31-shot rally where the Chinese World No.15 tested Nehwal’s diagonal defense alternating at the left net and the right back corner, ended with the net cord fortuitously favouring the Indian. A point before that, Nehwal’s tossed return had looped out though Sun was left with zero referrals, that almost brought her to tears.

The top-ranked Indian had raced to win the opening set, allowed Set 2 to drift and again sprinted to 11-4 in the decider. Sun Yu would equalise at 14-all, varying her pace and opening up the court with her placements and smashes before Nehwal snapped out of her reverie and wrested control.

Crucially at 19-17, the Chinese would run out of reviews to a howler of a line call, and her well-constructed long rally would see the luckless Chinese end on the losing side after the net-exchange tipped in the Indian’s favour.

However, in the semis, Nehwal will need to be on her toes, though Xuerui too was stretched to a 55-minute encounter by Yihan Wang in the other quarter.

They say draws get easier when you climb up the rankings. At the pinnacle of the charts, but seeded third at the USD 500,000 Malaysian Super Series Premier, Nehwal will wonder if life ever gets easy on the circuit, given that she’s facing her third Chinese in a row. Luck, however, did favour her as she’s persevered in the Sun Yu game – something that Xuerui’s acknowledged on a famous London night before.