Saina Nehwal looked in complete control of her second round match against Fitriani Fitriani in the ongoing Indonesia Open, defeating her in straight games, 21-11, 21-10 on Thursday. But one needs to applaud the 17-year old shuttler, who did give her best against the Indian.
The first game witnessed some great shots from both the players, and Saina was up to the mark with whatever that was thrown to her, and took an important lead at 15-7 in the latter stages. Saina showed some great defence, and looked quite settled at the net as well. But, there were occasions in the first game where Fitriani troubled Saina with her powerful smashes.
Despite the threat, Saina, with her experience and class, prevailed in the first game.
Saina got off to a blistering start in the second game as she played some exquisite shots, and Fitriani looked helpless. The eighth seed enjoyed 8-3 lead, and later stretched it to 16-9 after some brilliant shuttle play from both the back and front end of the court. There was no way back for the Indonesian player, who, despite the massive support from the home crowd, lost the match in straight games.
Though Saina looked good against Fitriani, she needs to come up with an even better performance in the next round, as she could meet world number one Carolina Marin, who is expected to defeat Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the second round later during the day.
