Saina Nehwal

New Delhi: Saina Nehwal’s great run came to an end with a heart-breaking loss to top seed Wang Yihan of China in the girls’ singles final at the World Junior Badminton Championships in Incheon, South Korea, on Saturday.

Saina, the world No. 32 who was looking to author history, bowed in just 26 minutes to Wang. The highly-rated Wang won 21-13, 21-9, according to information received here.

It has been a fabulous week for Saina as the 14th seed put up a stunning show to knock out Bae Youn Joo of Korea in the penultimate round.

In the final, however, Wang proved to be a tough nut to crack for the 16-year-old Indian.

Reaching the final of a 128-draw event like this is still a creditable performance by Saina for whom 2006 has been a real breakthrough year.

The Hyderabad girl made everyone sit up and take notice when she won her first international title, the Philippines Open, in May by beating then world No. 4 Xu Huwain of Germany on the way.

She also reached the quarters in two other events which took her ranking from around 100 at the start of the year to No. 32 in the women’s circuit.

Saina also played a crucial role in India clinching the team bronze at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games earlier this year.

Later, Saina attributed her defeat in the final to exhaustion which hampered her movement on the court.

According to her, having played some tough matches before reaching the final took a heavy toll on her. “I was tired. My legs were a bit stiff and I could not move so well on the court,” Saina said over phone from Incheon, South Korea.

World No. 32 Saina admitted she was excited to play her first final in a world championship but could not give her best Saturday. “I could have played better, it was not my 100 per cent. I gave away many negative points.

“She caught me more on my backhand smashes and during full court rallies,” she said.

Saina, however, denied that she was under any pressure.

“I knew I was carrying the hopes of many, many people, but I could not take the pressure,” she said.

The 16-year-old rated her opponent as a better player than herself but said she could beat Wang.

“She is a better player than I am. She recently beat seniors like world No. 1 Xie Xing Seng in an invitational tournament. But she is beatable. I can beat her,” said the Indian who had an otherwise superb week.

Saina’s next engagement is seniors Asian Satellite meet in Mumbai from Tuesday and then the Asian Games in Doha early next month.