Zee Media Bureau/Suyash Srivastava
Hyderabad: Hyderabad Hotshots’ ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal is yet to be beaten in Indian Badminton League as she defeated Julian Schenk of Pune Pistons 21-10, 19-21, 11-8 in the first semi-final on her home ground at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium on Wednesday.
Hyderabad Hotshots now lead the tie 2-0.
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RESULT: Saina won the match 21-10, 19-21, 11-8
3rd GAME: SAINA WINS IT 11-8
# Saina ends the match with a down the line smash, 11-10 and she has won the match!
# Saina's shot goes wide, 8-10.
# Saina misses a shot, 7-10.
# Saina extends her lead to 10-6, she has four match points!
# Good cross court smash from Saina, Juliane was in two minds there, 9-6 lead for Saina.
# Saina wins a point as she misses a shot that goes long, 8-6 lead for Saina.
# Down the line smash from Juliane, good execution, 6-7.
# Good cross court shot from Juliane, 5-7.
# Back-to-back smashes from Saina as she wins a point, 7-4.
# Superb cross court smash from Saina this time, she leads 6-4. Two-point lead for Saina in the final game. Both the players are looking exhausted at the moment. What a match this has been so far!
# Good judgement from Saina, she leads 5-4.
# Excellent cross court smash from Juliane, scores level 4-4.
# Saina's backhand shot went wide, 3-4.
# Juliane's down the line smash hits the net, Saina now leads 4-2.
# Good dribble from Saina, Juliane's return falls short, Saina leads 3-2.
# Good cross court smash from Juliane, 2-2. That was some smash!
# Juliane's shot goes wide, Saina leads 2-1.
# Saina wins a point, Juliane's shot hits the net, 1-1.
# Juliane to serve. She wins the first point afer Saina's shot goes wide, 1-0.
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2nd GAME: JULIANE WINS IT 21-19
# Juliane seals the second game 21-19. What a spectacular comeback from the Russian! She was trailing 14-18 and she bounced back and won seven of the next eight points.
# Juliane wins another point with a drop shot, 20-18. And Juliane now HAS A GAME POINT!
# Julaine wins a point with a drop shot, 19-19.
# Saina wins a point after quite some time with a cross court smash, 19-18 she leads.
# Good drop shot from Juliane, 18-18. JULIANE HAS WON SIX POINTS IN A ROW!
# Juliane wins her fifth point in a row, Saina's shot goes long, 17-18.
# Saina's down the line smash hits the net, 16-18.
# Juliane wins a point, 15-18.
# Juliane wins a point, Saina's shot goes wide, 14-18.
# Good dribble from Juliane, 13-18.
# Short serve from Saina, 12-18.
# Good play from Saina who makes Juliane cover a lot of court and then drops it short, 18-11 she leads.
# Saina extends her lead to 17-11.
# Point for Juliane, 11-16.
# Good drop shot from Juliane, 10-16.
# Cross court smash from Saina, 16-9. She has played the shot really well today.
# Point for Juliane, 9-15.
# Saina wins a point as Juliane's smash hits the net, 15-8.
# Saina wins another point and leads 14-8 at the second break. Six-point lead could be decisive in the second game.
# Saina wins another point, 13-8.
# Saina wins two points in a row, 12-8.
# Saina's drop shot finds the net, 8-10.
# Saina wins a point, 10-7.
# Good deception from Juliane, 7-9.
# Good down the line smash from Saina, 9-6.
# Saina wins a point, 8-6 she leads.
# Another cross court smash from Saina, 7-6 she leads at the end of the first break.
# Saina wins a point with a cross court smash, 6-6.
# Excellent rally, one of the longest of the tournament. THE RALLY OF THE TOURNAMENT won by Juliane after Saina made an error of judgement, 6-5. That would have crossed around 50 shots.
# Good backhand body smash from Juliane, 5-5.
# Fault from Saina, Jualine wins a point 4-5.
# Saina wins another point, 5-3.
# Saina wins another point, she now leads 4-3.
# Saina wins her third successive point, 3-3.
# Saina wins another point, 2-3.
# Good cross court smash from Saina, 1-3.
# Some luck going Juliane's way, 3-0 she leads after her shot clipped over the nets.
# Juliane wins another point, 2-0. Saina's return hit the nets.
# Juliane wins the first point, 1-0 she leads.
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1st GAME: SAINA WON IT 21-10
# Saina wins the first game 21-10 with a good body smash.
# Saina's return once again hits the net, 10-20.
# Jualiane wins a point, 9-20.
# Juliane's shot once again hits the net, 20-8. Game point for Saina.
# Julaine's shot falls short, 19-8.
# Down the line smash from Saina, 17-8 she leads.
# Cross court smash from the forehand this time from Juliane, 8-16.
# Good backhand smash from Juliane, 7-16.
# Good cross court smash from Juliane 6-16.
# Juliane wins a point after a long time, 5-16.
# Another good judgement from Saina, Juliane is making a lot many errors today, 16-4.
# Good judgement from Saina, 15-4 she leads now.
# Juliane mistimes her shot that goes wide, Saina leads 14-4 at second break. She has been wonderful so far and Juliane is looking completely clueless.
# Saina wins a point, 13-4 she leads.
# Juliane makes an error of judgement, Saina leads 12-4.
# Good body smash from Saina once again, 11-4 she leads.
# Good play at the nets from Juliane wins her a point, 4-10.
# Good deceptive cross court drop shot from Saina, 10-3. Huge lead this.
# Down the line smash from Saina, 9-3 she leads.
# Saina wins another point, 8-3. Both players have increased the pace of the match.
# Saina wins a point, 7-3. She has takes a four-point lead at the first break.
# Juliane wins a point after Saina made an error of judgement, 3-6.
# Good body smash from Saina, 6-2.
# Julaine's shot falls short, Saina leads 5-2.
# Saina wins a point, 4-2.
# Juliane wins a point, 2-3.
# Saina wins another point, 3-2.
# Juliane wins her first point, 1-2.
# Saina wins the next point, 2-0.
# Saina will serve first, crowd going berserk. And Saina wins the first point.
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IBL: Can Super Saina continue her winning streak against Pune Pistons?
Saina will have an upper hand against Schenk whom she had earlier defeated in the tournament. After losing the first game against the German, Saina had bounced back to win that match 17-21 21-19 11-6.
On Day 12, even though Hyderabad Hotshots lost their tie 2-3 to Banga Beats, Saina maintained her unbeaten record intact as she edged past Tai Tzu Ying in an intense match which she won 21-17, 14-21, 11-8.
Saina has been on top of her form ever since the tournament kicked off. When PV Sindhu won a bronze medal at the recently concluded Badminton World Championship, a lot was said about her clash with Saina in the initial phases of the tournament.
But Saina proved her class when the two of them locked horns. Sindhu, icon player of Awadhe Warriors, proved to be a no show against Saina, where she was defeated 21-19, 21-8.
Saina, the icon player for Hyderabad Hotshots also won her matches against P C Thulasi (21-7, 21-10), Julian Schenk (17-21, 21-19, 11-6) and Arundhati Panthawane (21-6, 21-18).
Saina has been the driving force behind her franchise Hyderabad Hotshots and the team management would want their senior player to lift the trophy.
