Saina Nehwal wins Australian Super Series

The 26-year-old from Hyderabad eked out a 11-21, 21-14 21-19 victory over World No 12 Sun in a fighting summit clash that lasted an hour and 12 minutes.

London Olympics bronze medallist Saina, who had beaten two world champions — Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon (2013) and China’s Yihan Wang (2011) — in the quarterfinals and semifinals, thus clinched her maiden title of the season and pocketed a cheque of $56,250.

It is Saina’s second Australian Open victory, having clinched the title in 2014 as well. It ended a rather long title drought for the celebrated Indian, whose previous silverware was at the India Super Series in New Delhi last year.

Saina had defeated Sun five times in the last five outings but she faced a tough challenge against the 22-year-old Chinese, who took just 18 minutes to wrap up the opening game at the Sydney Olympic Park.

Sun dished out a fast-paced game, which Saina failed to break initially. The Indian struggled with the length of the shuttle and committed a few unforced errors early on as the duo moved together till 4-4.

@Agency report.