Neck-and-neck start to this opening game. Its 3-3
Neither players giving anything away here. Its 4-4.
Its 5-5 now. Seems like we have a gripping contest on our hands.
Saina goes in front. Its 6-5 in her favour
The Indian has edged away here. It is 8-6 in her favour.
Wang pulls a point back. Its 9-7.
We are all-level once again. 9-9
What a contest it has proven to be already. Its 10-10.
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At the interval mark in the opening game, Wang Yihan leads Saina Nehwal 11-10.
Wang has taken the upper hand here. Up 14-11 in the opening game.
Saina has some catching up to do here. She is down 11-16.
Saina staying in this contest. 13-16.
Wang Yihan looks on course to win the opening game. Up 18-13.
Saina is down 14-19 in the opening game.
Saina staying in the game here. 16-19 against her.
4 game point opportunities for Wang
Wang Yihan takes the opening game 21-16 against Saina Nehwal.
Saina needs to get off the blocks quickly in the second game in order to make a match of this. Vital initial phase this for the Indian.
Wang up 2-0 in the second game.
This is a poor start for the Indian in the second game. Down 0-4.
Wang is in the ascendency in this second game. Leads Saina 6-1.
Yihan has come all guns blazing in the second game. Leads 8-2.
Yihan now leads 9-3 in the second game.
At the interval in the second game, Wang Yihan leads Saina Nehwal 11-4
This is turning out to be an extremely one-sided second game. Saina trails 5-13.
Saina is trailing 7-16 in the second game and it looks all but over, unless she can make a fist of it right now.
Saina at the moment trails 9-19.
Saina staying alive here. 12-20.
Thats it. Saina Nehwal loses her semifinal to Wang Yihan 21-16 21-14. This is now her 4th consecutive semifinal loss in as many tournaments in 2016.
Hello and welcome to our Live coverage of the semifinal between India’s Saina Nehwal and China’s Wang Yihan at the Badminton Asia Championships 2016 In Wuhan, China that is slated to start soon.
Both players had contrasting quarterfinal matches on Friday. Saina looked perhaps in her best fitness shape ever this season, against Wang Shixian China, defeating her opponent in straight games 21-16 21-19 to move into the final four of the competition for the first time since 2010.
On the other hand, Yihan had to fight her way into the semifinals, after defeating a resilient Nozomi Okuhara in three games, 8-21 21-13 21-19 to move into the semifinals.
The head-to-head between the two stands at 4-10 in favour of Yihan, but in recent times, Saina has had the upper hand over her Chinese nemesis having defeated her in many major events in the course of the past, including at the World Championships.
Saina in the past had told Sportskeeda that she found Yihan to be her toughest opponent and indeed she certainly has been a thorn in the Indian’s flesh over the years.However, today is a new start for Saina and if he does play the way she did on Friday, then she could cause serious problems for her Chinese opponent. Catch all the live updates here.
The opening game will hold significance and the winner of this match will face off against Li Xuerui of China in the final on Sunday.
