NEW DELHI: Saina Nehwal on Friday stormed into the semifinals of Hong Kong Super Series by extracting revenge on Pui Yin Yip for her heart-breaking quarterfinal loss in the Asian Games, with straight games thrashing of the local shuttler.
Saina had lost 8-21, 21-8, 19-21 in the quarterfinals of the Asian Games badminton competition in Guangzhou last month but on Friday, at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong, the world number two Indian thrashed her opponent 21-11, 21-10 in just 26 minutes.
She will take on sixth seed Juliane Schenk of Germany in the singles semifinal on Saturday. Juliane scored an upset 21-14, 16-21, 21-12 victory over fourth seed Yanjiao Jiang of China in another quarterfinal match. Saina, seeded second in the tournament, was clearly the better player as she completely outwitted her opponent at net play by winning 22 points to her opponent’s five. In the rallies also, the local player could not match Saina.
In the first game, Saina and Pui was going neck and neck for some time at 4-4 and then 8-7. The Indian then won eight straight points to take a 16-7 lead to virtually seal the first game.
The second game went on almost similar lines with both players not being able to take two-point lead till 14-10. The Indian then left her opponent dazed by winning seven straight points to wrap up the tie.
