Saina Nehwal enters China Open Superseries semis

Saina Nehwal

London Olympics bronze medallist and World No.5 Saina Nehwal got the better of Suo Di of China in a 60-minute contest of her women's singles quarterfinals match at the Haixia Olympic Sport Center in Fuzhou,China.

Sixth-seeded Saina, who is the only Indian player in this category was made to work hard by the Chinese qualifier before the Indian used all her experience to draw the curtains on the challenge of the the 21-year old Chinese shuttler. Saina defeated Suo by a scoreline of 21-13 17-21 21-4.

Chinese ace, who is ranked 179 in the world started the match on a positive note as she took a strong three points lead before the mid game interval of the opening game. Trailing by 6-9, Saina came back strongly and grabbed next eight points in a quick succession to take a decent lead. This lead proved to be very crucial for the Indian shuttler as she wrapped the opening game 21-13.

The second game was an evenly contested game as both the players were fighting hard for each and every point. From 16 all, Suo reeled off four points in quick time to earn herself three game points. She failed to convert the first one but was successful in second time of asking as she clinched the game 17-21.

Third game was a completely one sided affair as the Chinese player was miles behind the Indian in terms of skills and ability. After losing the 2nd game Saina pulled out a 11-1 lead in the decider. With such a huge lead Saina had absolutely no difficulty in closing the game and hence the match.

Saina, will now face another Chinese shuttler and World No. 17 Liu Xin in the semifinals on Saturday. Liu stunned the World ranked 6 Thai shuttler Intanon Ratchanok 21-15 21-18 in a match which lasted for just 38 minutes.