Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal defeated China's Li Xuerui to win the Indonesia Open Super Series in Jakarta on Sunday, sending out a strong message to rivals ahead of the London Olympics next month. The world number five took the women's singles crown and $48,750 in prize money by beating world number four Li from a set down 13-21, 22-20, 21-19.
Nehwal said winning her third Indonesia Open title was "special" and hoped for more success in the country. She won the tournament in 2009 and 2010 but lost the following year to China's Wang Yihan. "I'm happy to win the tournament today. But there are lots to be done (before the Olympics)," she said. "I think all the Chinese are really good... All of them are very strong, very hard working. They gave me lots of tough fights even in the quarter final," she added.
Nehwal thrashed Sung Ji-Hyun of Korea in the semi-final Saturday while Li beat top-seeded compatriot Wang Yihan in the other semi-final game.
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