Saina enters semifinals of Malaysia Open
The
world number four Indian had to toil hard before prevailing over
two-time All England champion Tine 21-13 21-23 21-13 in a women singles
quarterfinal match which lasted a little less than an hour.
The
21-year-old Saina kept the pressure on her rival and played a lot of
smashes though she gained more points with her dribbling at the net.
In
the first game, Saina opened up a narrow lead after 5-5 but Tine kept
breathing down her neck at 9-10 before the Indian started reeling off
straight points to widen the gap and then take a 1-0 lead.
Not
ready to lie low, Tine raced to a three-point lead in the second game
but a straight six point helped Saina to zoom past her and take 14-10
lead.
However,
the Dane was not someone to let it go so easily as she caught up with
the Indian at 15-15 and held on to the fight by winning the second game
and draw level.
In
the decider, Tine again managed to open up a narrow two-point lead
early but Saina soon gathered herself and changed the calculation by
leading 9-7 and kept the pressure intact as Tine's game crumbled.
In
the semifinals on Saturday, Saina will take on the winner between top
seed and world number one Chinese Yihan Wang and Xuerui Li.
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