Press Trust of India
Kuala Lumpur, April 3: Newly-crowned World No. 1 Saina Nehwal edged out China’s Sun Yu to reach the women’s singles semifinals of the USD 5,00,000 Malaysia Open Super Series badminton tournament here Friday.
The third seeded Indian eked out a 21-11, 18-21, 21-17 win over Sun in a quarterfinal battle that lasted an hour and 11 minutes at the Putra Stadium here. She will next face Olympic champion Li Xuerui, a player against whom Saina has lost eight times and won twice in their 10 meetings. Xuerui, battled past former World Champion Yihan Wang 14-21, 21-15, 21-12 in 55 minutes.
Saina who had a 2-1 record going into Friday’s match, stamped her authority right from the start as she didn’t give the Chinese any easy points. Brimming with confidence after her India Open triumph and ascent to World No.1, Saina zoomed ahead to 12-4 with a eight-point burst and never looked back. She grabbed the first game rather comfortably.
World No. 15 Sun, however, made a flying start in the second game, opening up a 7-1 lead early on but Saina soon caught up with the Chinese at 14-14. Sun then slowly started to distance herself from the Indian and made a successful return to the match by winning the game.
A jolted Saina recovered in no time and surged to a 11-4 lead at the break in the decider. After the interval, Sun reeled off seven straight points from 8-14 to wrest a slender lead. The duo battled till 17-17 before the Indian slammed the door on the Chinese with four points on the trot.
Saina has been on a roll ever since winning the China Open last year. She clinched the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold, reached the finals of All England Championship, before winning the India Super Series last week.
“I know the semifinal will be a tough game,” stated Saina after her match. “She (Xuerui) has been on a roll against me in the recent past. But then, I am also confident as I have been playing well and I am very positive about the encounter tomorrow (Saturday).”
At a glance
Saina Nehwal bt Sun Yu 21-11, 18-21, 21-17
Li Xuerui bt Yihan Wang 14-21, 21-15, 21-12
