Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal won her maiden $275,000 India Open Superseries crown here on Sunday defeating former World Champion Ratchanok Intanon in straight games in the women’s singles final.
Playing at the Siri Fort Sports Complex, the No.1 seed came out on top to win 21-16, 21-14 in 49 minutes to take a 6-3 lead in career meetings over the third seeded Thai, who won here in 2013.
This is Saina’s second title of the year after winning the India Grand Prix Gold in January in Lucknow. She had also reached the All England final earlier this month where she lost to reigning World Champion Carolina Marin of Spain.
Previously, Saina’s best performance at her home Super Series was a quarterfinal finish last year.
World No.2 Saina is assured of the No.1 spot when the Badminton World Federation (BWF) revises its rankings on Thursday.
The 25-year-old’s compatriot Kidambi Srikanth will play his men’s singles final against Danish Viktor Axelsen later in the day.