New Delhi: It was not a million years ago that Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal was ranked number two in the world, and there was talk about her getting to the numero uno position sooner rather than later; however her defeat at the hands of Germany's Juliane Schenk, in the semi-finals of the Japan Open represents a slump in form, that can no longer be dismissed as just a passing phase.
By going down to her opponent seeded four spots (8th) below her in the tournament, Saina now seems to have found a way of not restricting her losses to only the best in the business.
Ranked fifth in the world, Saina's last tournament victory came in March this year when she beat Jin Hyun Sung of South Korea in the finals of the Swiss Open.
However, since then she made it to the finals of the Indonesian Open where she went down to current world number one Wang Yihan 21-12, 21-13, 14-21, failing to close out the contest after having a match point to her name.
Saina had also lost in the finals of the Malaysian Open to Wang Xin 21-13, 8-21, 14-21 as she once again failed to capitalise after winning the first game.
The worrying sign for the Commonwealth Games gold medallist is her inability to win against the top Chinese players and that too from advantageous positions.
Saina has also suffered a series of quarter-final losses and she was even upset in the opening round of the Indian Open when she went down to Japan's Ai Goto in straight games 17-21, 19-21.
With her latest defeat against a lesser ranked player, one wonders whether Saina Nehwal is paying the ultimate price for being a sporting icon in a country where there the pressure of expectations know no bounds, or is it just a plain and simple case of the beginning of the end for someone who is past her prime.
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