National champion Saina Nehwal tried every trick in her book but failed to get the better of top seeded Chinese Xie Xingfang in the quarter-finals of the Thailand Open in Bangkok on Friday.
The Indian ace lost 16-21, 17-21.
Saina, who reached her first Super Series semi-final in Singapore a fortnight ago, could not survive Xingfang's onslaught and went down after fighting for little more than half an hour.
Saina, who by virtue of her recent good performances on the international circuit equalled her highest ranking of 21 in the latest BWF list, was undone by Xingfang's high quality smashes. The Chinese shuttler registered 14 smash winners while Saina could manage only half that number.
In the first game alone, Xingfang hit nine smash winners compared to Saina's two. However, the Indian pulled up her shocks in the second and put up a better show even though it was not enough to upset the Chinese ace.
