In the Malaysian Open Saina entered as No. 3 and between the tournament she was officially crowned World No. 1 ranking. She did reach the semifinal. But against top seed Xuerui she failed and also handed over her few days old World No. 1 ranking back to Xuerui. But, while Saina failed, Carolina Marin of Spain succeeded. After defeating Saina in All England Open 2015, in Malaysian Open she defeated the 2nd seed Chinese in the semifinal and the top seed Chinese in the final to win Malaysian Open 2015.
Saina Loses World No. 1 ranking in few days
Saina Nehwal not only lost the semifinal but the result also marked end to her World No. 1 ranking as Xuerui just needed to defeat her to retain the World No. 1 ranking. Saina fought hard but lost 13-21 21-17 22-20 in the semifinal in 1 hour 7 minutes. This was her 9th loss against the top seed Chinese. Saina has won only 2 matches so far against her.
Carolina Shines Defeating the 1st and 2nd seeds Chinese Players
Carolina defeated Saina in All England Open 2015, but lost the semifinal of India Open. She missed being World No. 1 at India Open where the top ranking was to be decided between her and Saina.
Carolina continued her upsurge in Malaysian Open. While everyone was concentrating on China vs Saina rivalry, Carolina first defeated the 2nd seed Chinese Wang Shixian 21-17 24-22 in 56 minutes of semifinal match and then went on to conquer the top seed and World No. 1 Li Xuerui in the final. 6th seed Carolina won 19-21 21-19 21-17 for the trophy match playing for 1 hour 11 minutes.
Carlina had lost her first two matches vs Shixian. Against Xuerui she lost the first three matches. This was her second consecutive win against the top seed now.
Other Winners
Men’s Singles: Top seed Long Chen def Lin Dan 20-22 21-13 21-11 in 1 hour 18 minutes to win his first Malaysian Open.
Mixed Doubles: Top seed Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei def 3rd seed Chinese pair of Chen/Jin 21-16 21-14.
Women’s Doubles: 3rd seed Chinese pair of Ying/Yu def Korean pair of Chang/Jung 21-18 21-9.
4th seed Indonesian pair of Ahsan/Setiawan def top seed Korean pair 14-21 21-15 23-21 in 1 hour match.
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