New Delhi, Dec 19 (IANS) Saina Nehwal pulled off two upsets to storm into the semifinal of the World Super Series Masters Finals badminton Friday in Sabah, Malaysia.
Seventh seed Saina beat France’s fourth seed PI Hongyan 21-18 21-13 in the second Group B match. The World No. 10 Indian went past sixth seeded Mew Choo Wong of Malaysia 21-10, 17-21, 21-16 in a gruelling encounter.
The Indian will next play third seed Chen Wong of Hong Kong for a place in the final.
Saina found her touch against Hongyan as she hit a barrage of smashes to wrap it up in just 34 minutes.
The first game was close as Saina and Hongyan fought tooth and nail but the Indian came up trumps. Saina stepped up pressure in the second game and sealed victory without much trouble.
Riding high on the victory, Saina then went on to record her second upset of the tournament against Wong. She was quick off the blocks and took the first game but Wong fought back to make it 1-1. Saina showed amazing maturity to stay calm in the decider and settle the issue.
Saina had lost the first league match to Tine Rasmussen of Denmark but said she backed herself in Saturday’s league matches.
“The first match was the toughest one for me. I knew I had a chance against these two players today. I have been in good form this season and wanted to give my best,” Saina told IANS.
It has been a fantastic year for Saina, who made it to the Beijing Olympics quarterfinal and then entered in the top-10 this month.