Indian women beat Spain 3-2 in Uber Cup final opener

Saina Nehwal. Pic/AFP

Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal was forced to retire midway through her opening match but India's young brigade produced a clinical display to notch up a fine 3-2 win over Spain and make a winning start to their campaign at the Uber Cup Final on Sunday.

Starting the proceedings for India, London Olympics bronze medallist Saina had to concede her match after losing the first game 20-22 against Clara Azurmendi as she developed discomfort in her groin area. However, Malvika Bansod dished out a dominating 21-13, 21-15 win over former World No. 20 Beatriz Corrales to bring India at level par with the Spanish team.

Tanisha Crasto and Rutaparna Panda then outplaying Paula Lopez and Lorena Usle 21-10 21-8 as India grabbed a 2-1 lead in the five-match rubber. In the third singles, Aditi Bhatt beat Ania Setien 21-16, 21-14 as India sealed the contest 3-1. N Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, however, could not get past world No. 122 pair of Azurmendi and Corrales, losing 18-21, 21-14, 17-21 in the second women's doubles match.

Also Read: PV Sindhu: Saina Nehwal hasn't congratulated me

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever