<p>Two-time defending champion and top seed Saina Nehwal of India was ousted by nemesis Shixian Wang of China in the women's singles semifinal of the $125,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold here.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The fourth seeded Shixian halted Saina’s journey to a consecutive third final by winning the match 21-11, 10-21, 21-9 in 50 minutes at St. Jakobshalle Saturday, denying the Indian to celebrate her 23rd birthday Sunday with the title.<br /><br />Saina, who had beaten the Chinese last week in the quarterfinal of the All England Open Badminton Championships, however, still leads Shixian 4-2 in career meetings.<br />The Hyderabadi went into the match feeling confident, having beaten the former World No.1 the last four times. But her on-court form did not show that.<br /><br />Saina was completely off the track in the first game allowing the World No.7 to take a huge 8-0 lead at the start from where she could never recuperate.<br /><br />Known for her quick feet on the court, Saina was boggled by Chinese opponent, who had last beaten the top seed back in the 2010 World Championships.<br /><br />Scripts changed hands in the second game as from 13-10 up, the defending champion notched eight straight points to take the game and level the match.<br />But Saina again let herself down in the third by making wrong line judgements and unforced errors.<br /><br />Shixian led the game from the start and kept extending the lead, needing just one match-point to pull it off.<br /><br />Surprisingly, there were no smash winners by either players considering that both heavily rely on smashes as most points were won at the net.<br /><br />Shixian’s deft touches at the net proved to be the difference between the two.<br />Shixian will next will Thailand’s fifth seed Ratchanok Intanon in the final.<br />The hugely talented Ratchanok, who was a finalist at the All England Open, shoved aside Japanese Yui Hashimoto 19-21, 21-10, 21-13 in one hour and two minutes.<br /><br /></p>
<p>Two-time defending champion and top seed Saina Nehwal of India was ousted by nemesis Shixian Wang of China in the women's singles semifinal of the $125,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold here.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The fourth seeded Shixian halted Saina’s journey to a consecutive third final by winning the match 21-11, 10-21, 21-9 in 50 minutes at St. Jakobshalle Saturday, denying the Indian to celebrate her 23rd birthday Sunday with the title.<br /><br />Saina, who had beaten the Chinese last week in the quarterfinal of the All England Open Badminton Championships, however, still leads Shixian 4-2 in career meetings.<br />The Hyderabadi went into the match feeling confident, having beaten the former World No.1 the last four times. But her on-court form did not show that.<br /><br />Saina was completely off the track in the first game allowing the World No.7 to take a huge 8-0 lead at the start from where she could never recuperate.<br /><br />Known for her quick feet on the court, Saina was boggled by Chinese opponent, who had last beaten the top seed back in the 2010 World Championships.<br /><br />Scripts changed hands in the second game as from 13-10 up, the defending champion notched eight straight points to take the game and level the match.<br />But Saina again let herself down in the third by making wrong line judgements and unforced errors.<br /><br />Shixian led the game from the start and kept extending the lead, needing just one match-point to pull it off.<br /><br />Surprisingly, there were no smash winners by either players considering that both heavily rely on smashes as most points were won at the net.<br /><br />Shixian’s deft touches at the net proved to be the difference between the two.<br />Shixian will next will Thailand’s fifth seed Ratchanok Intanon in the final.<br />The hugely talented Ratchanok, who was a finalist at the All England Open, shoved aside Japanese Yui Hashimoto 19-21, 21-10, 21-13 in one hour and two minutes.<br /><br /></p>