Super Saina sails into semifinals
3 Aug 2012 7:32 AM IST
Saina Nehwal created history on Thursday, as she became the first Indian shuttler to reach the semifinals of the Olympics after notching up a hard-fought straight-game victory over Tine Baun of Denmark in the women's singles quarter-finals at the London Games, here on Thursday.
The fourth seeded Nehwal edged past the fifth seed Baun 21-15, 22-20 in a 39-minute-long match at the Wembley Areana to set up a clash with the current World No. 1 and world champion Yihan Wang of China in the semifinals, whom she hasn't beaten once in her last five encounters.
With this win, Saina bettered her quarterfinal finish at the Beijing Games four years ago and also exorcised the demons of that painful defeat to Maria Kristin Yulianti of Indonesia.
The World No. 5 Indian had to toil hard against the two-time All England Champion Baun, who matched her strokes but was a tad erratic, which proved to be her bane in the quarterfinal match.
Nehwal was very precise with her strokes, while Tine was erratic initially and it allowed the Indian to lead 11-7 at the break.
After the breather, Nehwal mixed her strokes to move into the game point at 20-12, but she committed some unforced errors and a few judgemental mistakes allowed the Dane to save three game points.
The fourth seeded Nehwal edged past the fifth seed Baun 21-15, 22-20 in a 39-minute-long match at the Wembley Areana to set up a clash with the current World No. 1 and world champion Yihan Wang of China in the semifinals, whom she hasn't beaten once in her last five encounters.
With this win, Saina bettered her quarterfinal finish at the Beijing Games four years ago and also exorcised the demons of that painful defeat to Maria Kristin Yulianti of Indonesia.
The World No. 5 Indian had to toil hard against the two-time All England Champion Baun, who matched her strokes but was a tad erratic, which proved to be her bane in the quarterfinal match.
Nehwal was very precise with her strokes, while Tine was erratic initially and it allowed the Indian to lead 11-7 at the break.
After the breather, Nehwal mixed her strokes to move into the game point at 20-12, but she committed some unforced errors and a few judgemental mistakes allowed the Dane to save three game points.
Next Story
