Saina Nehwal weathered a barrage of early pressure from PV Sindhu before taking a convincing straight games 21-19 21-8 win to give Hyderabad Hotshots take a 2-0 lead over Awadhe Warriors on Day Two of the Indian Badminton League.The much-awaited maiden clash between the top two women’s players in the country started out evenly before petering out into a one-sided contest.

While both players scoffed at any notion of a developing rivalry, clearly there were early nerves on both sides. A net error from Sindhu followed a smash that went wide, giving Nehwal a 2-0 lead. However, with Sindhu getting her range, it was the youngster who appeared to have the edge. Mixing up her game, she wrong-footed Nehwal with a half smash and the delicate drop that subsequently clipped the line gave her a 5-3 lead. The bluff even earned a half smile from Nehwal.

With her smashes hit true from the back court, Sindhu grew in confidence close in as well. Nehwal’s tricks near the net weren’t catching Sindhu and as she tried to change her distance and her pace, the errors crept in with the senior trailing 10-15. But for all of Nehwal’s errors, she seemed to have a plan in place. With her experience, Nehwal had seen nearly every style of play. Now instead of relying solely on deceit, Nehwal upped the pace of the game and started moving around the court. Two smashes brought the score to 14-15 in part of a sequence which saw Nehwal win seven straight points. Sindhu drew level after a smash error from her opponent but Nehwal kept coming, cutting out any breathing space. Eventually, she took the game with a smash winner.

With the first game having gone as close as it had, Taufik Hidayat, Nehwal’s Hyderabad teammate who was sitting in her corner, walked up to her at the changeover and appeared to offer her a word of advice. Nehwal nodded in agreement but it seemed as if she had already worked out the puzzle.

If the first game was simply the two shuttlers getting the measure of each other, Nehwal seemed to be schooling the youngster in the second. Indeed there was more than the hint of bullying. In the high-profile match, dealing with pressure was as much an element as gameplay, that would determine victory. As such Sindhu appeared to crumble under the relentless assault. She would get to 5-7 after claiming a long rally with a fortuitous lift off a lucky net cord but for the most part her points were coming through errors from her rival. As Nehwal picked up steam, firing 19 smash winners, there were few such concessions.

Stalking her rival from her own side of the court, Nehwal moved constantly, bouncing even and then attacked first leaving Sindhu flat-footed and caught out in the middle court. Where Sindhu was caught out enough to be a concern was in parallel play. The point, with Nehwal match-point up was repeated multiple times before. Comfortable reaching for the shuttle forward or going for the high toss, Sindhu struggled as Nehwal targeted the body, forcing slight mistakes that compounded over a couple of returns.

For a game that was ‘just like any other’, the win clearly meant plenty for Nehwal. For Sindhu, though, there wasn’t too much to be embarrassed about and she can draw confidence from her play in the first game. There is still plenty of room for improvement even as Nehwal confirmed her place on the top of the heap.

Results: Hyderabad Hotshots beats Awadhe Warriors 3-2 ( S Tanongsak (HH) bt RMV Gurusai Dutt (AW) 15-21, 21-14, 11-9; Saina Nehwal (HH) bt PV Sindhu (AW) 21-18, 21-8; Mathias Boe/ Marcis Kido (AW) bt V Shem Goh/Khim Wah Lim (HH) 21-14, 21-20; K.Srikanth (AW) bt Ajay Jayaram(HH) 21-17, 21-19; V Shem Goh/Pradenya Gadre (HH) beat Marcis Kido/T Sapsiree(AW) 21-9, 19-21, 11-8). Mumbai Masters 2-2 Banga Beats (Vladimir Ivanov (MM) bt P.Kashyap (BB) 21-18, 21-18; Tai Tzu Ying (BB) bt Tine Baun (MM) 21-17, 21-18; C Mogensen/A Dewalkar (BB) bt PJ Chopra/M Attri (MM) 21-13, 21-12; Mark Zweibler (MM) bt Hu Yun 17-21, 21- 17, 11-6)

  Saina Nehwal