Earlier in the tournament, Saina had won 2 of her 3 round-robin matches to become the second player in her group to qualify for the semifinals. While she lost her first group match against World No. 2 and No. 2 seed Tine Rasmussen (DEN) 21-18 21-14 on Thursday, Saina did not let the early disappointment affect her in the group matches on Friday. She beat World No. 7 and No. 4 seed Hongyan Pi (FRA) in straight games 21-18 21-13 and later edged out local favourite and World No. 11 / No. 6 seed Mew Choo Wong in a thrilling contest 21-10 17-21 21-16.

Saina got an entry into this exclusive tournament, limited to the top 8 players in the world, thanks to the withdrawal of the Chinese players. Considering that she is in excellent form, it was a god-sent opportunity to face off against the very best and rack up some more ranking points in the process.

Saina had applied for a renewal of her passport on December 2 and was given December 10 as a date for delivery. Then, when she got the news of her qualification on Thursday, December 4, she sought an appointment with the passport officer on Friday but her request was brushed aside, with the officer’s secretary telling her to come on Monday. And then the RPO failed to keep its earlier promise and ever since, Saina has been making rounds of the RPO.

The 18 year-old (yes she is still a teenage girl) innocently tried to use the sporting patriotism card by pleading with the authorities that she was the country’s top shuttler and this was a rare opportunity, but the men in charge would not listen. Needless to say the poor girl was deeply hurt.

Wonder what would have happened if a cricketer needed the same sense of urgency from the passport authorities. Even a second- rung guy would have commanded more respect from them.

Her hopes of participation are now almost dead - Unless the powers –that-be can do something about it. Thankfully, this news has been reported by most of the top dailies. So it would have caught their attention for sure. If someone higher up is a true sports lover, then they can surely get this sorted out and ensure Sania’s participation. Let’s see if we have one amongst the lot of politicians and administrators who never miss the chance to facilitate a champion sportsperson and wax rhetoric about their love for sports.

The powerless sports fans are waiting with bated breadth.

Update 1: Looks like somebody has taken notice. Chief Passport Officer, New Delhi, R Swaminathan has assured Saina Nehwal that her passport would be delivered to her on Saturday.

Update 2: Saina has got her passport and and can now take part the BWF World Super Series Masters Final in Malaysia which starts from Thursday, December 18, unless the Malaysian embassy raises some issue with her visa processing.

To all our readers who work on brands: call Saina’s agent right away and sign her up for the next 3 years. You are going to grateful to us for this piece of advice.

Update (December 8, 2008): Saina Nehwal has become the first Indian woman shuttler to be named as the Most Promising Player of 2008 by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

Saina has opted out of the tournament. Even if she plays and wins the tournament, she would not get the 4000 points associated with the challenger as the current points system only takes into account the top ten performances of the season - and her top-class performances in bigger tournaments have meant that she stands to gain nothing here. Also, Saina is taking the opportunity to train for the more important Super Series events in Malaysia (Jan 6-11) and Korea (Jan 13-18) early next year. However, she has promised Indian fans that she will be available for Indian Open and the World Championship both of which will be held in Hyderabad next year.

On the men’s side, Anup Sridhar is recovering from an ankle injury while Arvind Bhat is getting married during the same period. Chetan Anand (WR #14) has yet not confirmed his participation and he may opt out for reasons similar to the ones offered by Saina. However, his wife Jwala Gutta would be playing the women’s doubles (with Shruti Kurien-Kanetkar) and mixed doubles (with V Diju) in the Challenger.

Update (December 5, 2008): The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has postponed the Syed Modi Memorial India International Challenge 2008 scheduled for Lucknow from December 18 to 21 due to the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai. A BAI spokesman said the revised dates would be intimated after consultation with the Badminton Asia Confederation and Badminton World Federation.

This was the last Super Series for 2008. The highest ranked 8 players/pairs (with a maximum of 2 entries per event per Member Association) in the Super Series Standing list qualify to compete in the World Super Series Masters finals in Malaysia (December 18-21, 2008). A total prize pool of USD 500,000 is on offer for the event. Unfortunately, none of the Indian players have come close to qualifying.

Hong Kong Super Series Recap
MS: Chetan Anand
defeated Petr Koukal 21-18 17-21 21-13 (Round 1)
lost to Jin Chen [3] 11-21 12-21 (Round 2)

MS: Arvind Bhat
defeated Joachim Persson [6] 21-17 21-17 (Round 1)
defeated Yan Kit Chan 21-14 21-19 (Round 2)
lost to Boonsak Ponsana 26-28 22-20 14-21 (Quarter-finals)

WS: Saina Nehwal
defeated Salakjit Ponsana 21-19 22-20 (Round 1)
defeated Youn Joo Bae 21-15 12-21 21-13 (Round 2)
lost to Chen Wang 25-27, 21-24, 15-21 (Quarter-finals)

It was a near clean sweep for England as their players captured all of the titles except the mixed doubles.

Anand who started is year outside the top 100 in the rankings has done well to move into the top 50. Son of former India internationals has Uday Pawar, he is one of the most improved players on tour this year and definitely a prospect for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

In his quarterfinal match Anand got the better of 3rd seed Carl Baxter in grueling match that went down to the wire. Anand won 21-19 16-21 22-20.

He had only 3 hours of rest before his semi-final match against 8th seed Peter Mikkelsen of Denmark. This one too went the distance as Anand had to dig deep after losing the first game. Anand eventually triumphed 17-21 21-17 21-18.

Anand now takes on 21 year old Englishman and 5th seed Rajiv Ouseph. Rajiv has had a memorable tournament getting the better of the tournament 2nd seed, Finnish Ville Lang in the quarters. Though Anand would be a slight favourite to win considering current form and experience. Anand recently won the Yonex Hungarian International Championhips 2008, one of 3 victories on tour this year.

Over in Glasgow at the Bank of Scotland International Badminton Championships, World number 48, India’s Anand Pawar did justice to the seeded 6 status.  After losing the first game, Anand got the better of 14th seed Frenchman Matthieu Lo Ying Ping 19-21 21-17 21-13. Anand will now play 3^rd seed Englishman Carl Baxter in the quarterfinals.

Earlier in the day, world number 116, Neha Pandit lost her 2nd round womens singles encounter to the 3rd seeded Russian Ella Diehl. 

The silver lining for India at the China Open Super Series has come in the form of Arvind Bhat (WR #41), who has had a favourable draw in the tournament. In his first round match on Wednesday, he made short work of Malaysia’s Wee Chung Pei (WR #131) 21-9 21-13. In his second round match, he fought back to win against Czech Republic’s Petr Koukal (WR #40) 18-21 21-18 21-15 in 62-min. Arvind Bhat stands a great chance of making the semi-finals as he takes on WR #170 Kai Wen of China in the quarter-finals on Friday.

Meanwhile, the women’s doubles pair of Saina Nehwal and Anna Rice of Canada lost their second round match to the 4th seeded Korean pair of Jung Eun Ha and Min Jung Kim 13-21 11-21.

Saina’s win capped off a great Championship for India. India had finished 4th in the Team event. In the men’s singles, India’s R M V Gurusaidutt put up an impressive show to reach the semi-finals where he lost to third seed Zhengming Wang of China 16-21 21-17 17-21.