By IANS,
Singapore : World number 30 Saina Nehwal showed red-hot form to storm into the semifinal of the Singapore Open Super Series after seeing off a tough challenge from giant-killer Firdasari Adrianti of Indonesia here.
Saina kept her cool in tense moments of the game to score a 21-16, 16-21, 21-14 win in 47 minutes and make a place in the last four.
The Indian will now take on fifth seed Mi Zhou of Hong Kong for a place in the finals.
Zhou got the better of compatriot Chen Wang, seeded third, 21-17 21-19.
This is the first time that Saina reached the semifinal of a major international event in almost two years since her breakthrough title victory in the Philipines Open in 2006 which gave her sudden stardom in India.
Though she reached the quarterfinals ín a few events, she was not able to match the success of her maiden international tourney.
It was not all smooth sailing for Saina as she was up against tournament’s giant-killer Adrianti, who came into the match high on confidence afer knocking off top-seed PI Hongyan of France Thursday.
Adrianti was up to the challenge from the start and the duo ran neck-and-neck in the first game. After Saina managed to take a 1-0 lead, Adrianti fought back to level the score.
A determined Saina was not detered and raised her game in the decider to dash the hopes of Adrianti.
The win will also be a major boost for Saina, who has always aspired for an Olympics medal and will make her maiden appeaerance in the mega-event August in Beijing.