press trust of india
Fuzhou (China), Nov 14: Defending champion Saina Nehwal moved a step closer to retaining her women’s singles title at the USD 7,00,000 China Open Super Series Premier badminton tournament. In the semifinal played here Saturday, the Indian played brilliantly to defeat China’s Yihan Wang 21-13 21-18.
Up against one of her toughest rivals, who has beaten her nine times, Saina showed her prowess as she fought back from 2-4 down in the opening game and prevailed in a grueling battle in the second to outclass Wang. She will next face another Chinese, the 2012 Olympic Champion, Li Xuerui.
In the first game Saina took time to settle down. The Chinese led 4-2 and 5-3 before Saina reeled off six straight points to zoom ahead to a 9-5 lead and held an 11-7 advantage at the break. Wang caught up at 11-all, but Saina once more had a seven-point burst from 14-13 to wrap up the first game.
The second game turned out to be a thriller as lead exchanged hands frequently. Saina lead 9-6 at one stage and even though Wang clawed back at 10-10, the Indian wrested a slender 13-11 lead soon. She managed to hold on to the lead for the remainder of the game and closed out the tie.
