‘Better Half’ to the Rescue – Malaysia Masters
Saina Nehwal pulled off a tough opening round win over Hong Kong’s Deng Joy Xuan and then credited her better half - men’s singles player Parupalli Kashyap - for proving the necessary inputs at critical times.
· DEV SUKUMAR
Nehwal (featured image), who married Parupalli on December 14, had a battle on her hands with
relative newcomer Deng winning the opening game. The Indian dug in despite struggling with her movement and kept her head in the third despite her opponent nearly erasing Nehwal’s 19-12 lead. With Parupalli egging her on from the coach’s chair, Nehwal came away a 14-21 21-18 21-18 victor, and sighed that her movement had been off due to a shin injury she’d picked up.
This was Nehwal’s first World Tour event since her wedding, and she said his advice during the breaks had helped.