Kuala Lumpur, Jan 19 (IANS) India's campaign in the Malaysia Masters 2019 ended after London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal went down in straight games 16-21, 13-21 to reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain, in the women's singles semi-finals here on Saturday.
The Indian started on an aggressive note, racing to a 5-2 lead before the World No.6 Spaniard bounced back taking six points on the trot to overturn the lead and race to 11-9 at the breather of the first game.
Coming back, Marin continued her dominance despite Saina managing to square the scores at 14-14 but from there on, the Spanish southpaw went on to pocket seven of the nine points and clinch the game 21-16.
Marin continued her aggressive play in the second game, and thanks to Saina's unforced errors, the Rio gold medallist raced to a 11-6 lead at the halfway mark.
After the break, Marin looked in no mood of slowing down and further stretched her lead to 18-11 before sealing the game and the match 21-13 in her favour in 40 minutes.
With the Hyderabadi shuttler's loss, the Indian campaign at the first Super 500 event of the season has come to an end. Earlier on Friday, former World No.1 Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the men's singles quarter-finals after losing 23-21, 16-21, 17-21 to South Korean Son Wan Ho.
--IANS
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