Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal lost her World No.1 Ranking after defeat in the Semi Finals of the Malaysia Open Superseries Premier at Putra Stadium, Kaula Lampur on Saturday. China’s Olympic champion Li Xuerui defeated Saina in a nail-biting match that lasted an hour and eight minutes. With this defeat, Saina lost her World No. 1 ranking.
Nehwal, who won the India Open Super Series last week, had a one-game advantage but eventually lost 21-13, 17-21, 20-22. Li Xuerui has now beaten the Hyderabadi girl nine times in 11 Matches they played. Saina had beaten Li only on two occasions once during the 2010 Singapore Open and then at 2012 Indonesia Open.
Xuerui will now take on reigning World Champion Carolina Marin in the final, who beat second seeded Chinese Shixian Wang 21-17, 24-22 in the other semi-final.
