JOIN USSuper Saina storms to final
Defending champion Saina Nehwal is just one step away from retaining her women’s singles title at the $700,000 China Open Super Series Premier on Saturday.
The Indian ace on Saturday sealed the final spot after notching up a 21-13, 21-18 win over China’s Wang Yihan in the semifinals.
“It’s amazing to be in the final. Beating Wang Yihan in the semifinals is a big achievement as she’s been playing well. It was a good match today. I think overall I have been playing well, I’ve been getting better as the tournament progressed.
“There’s a lot of difference in the way I’m playing now. Yihan was my toughest opponent. Now I’ve beaten her for the third straight time. I need to watch and see what I’m doing well. She used to catch me with her flicks from net. Her half smashes were very strong. Now I’m reacting well to her shots,” she said.
The top seeded Indian will next take on Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China, an opponent against whom she has lost nine times and the only wins coming during the 2012 Indonesia Open and Singapore Open Super Series in 2010.
“Li is a tough opponent, I hope to give my best. I want to play my natural game. She’s very strong and I need to plan properly. I played her in Malaysia a few months ago and it was close match. Li has a few strokes which are very good, she’s very strong at the net. Let’s see what happens,” Saina said.
In the first game, Saina took time to get off the mark as Wang surged to a 2-0 lead early on. The Chinese led 5-3 before Saina reeled off six straight points to zoom ahead to a 9-5 lead and held a 11-7 advantage at the break.
After the interval, Wang caught up at 11-11 but Saina changed gears, and a seven-point burst from 14-13 helped her to pocket the opening game.
The second game turned out to be a thriller as lead exchanged hands too frequently. Saina led 9-6 at one stage and even though Wang clawed back at 10-10, the Indian wrested a slender 13-11 lead soon, before warapping up the show to book a place in the summit tie.