Saina Nehwal pulled off a thrilling three-game win over USA’s Iris Wang to advance to a women’s singles semifinals, for the first time in two years, at the Orleans Masters badminton tournament here on Friday.
The World No. 20 had to dig deep to script a 21-19, 17-21, 21-19 win over World No. 36 Wang in a gruelling quarterfinals match that lasted exactly an hour.
Saina will next face Denmark’s Line Christophersen, who ended the run of Ira Sharma with a 21-11, 21-8 win, for a place in the final of the Super 100 event, which is a part of BWF’s revised Olympic qualification events.
However, in the men’s section, top-seeded K. Srikanth was stunned by France’s Toma Junior Popov 21-19, 21-17 in a 42-minute last eight encounter.
Upset win
Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy entered the last four stage of the women’s doubles competition after a stunning 21-14, 21-18 win over third-seeded English pair of Chloe Birch and Lauren Smith.
The men’s pair of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnu Vardhan Goud Panjala outwitted the French duo of Christo Popov and Toma Junior Popov 21-17, 10-21, 22-20 to make the semifinals.
The unheralded Indian duo will face England’s Callum Hemming and Steven Stallwood, who had stopped M.R. Arjun and Dhruv Kapila 21-19, 18-21, 23-21 in their quarterfinal.
The results (quarterfinals): Women: Saina Nehwal bt Iris Wang 21-19, 17-21, 21-19; Line Christophersen (Den) bt Ira Sharma 21-11, 21-8.
Doubles: Ashwini Ponnappa & N. Sikki Reddy bt Chloe Birch & Lauren Smith (Eng) 21-14, 21-18.
Men: Toma Junior Popov (Fra) bt K. Srikanth 21-19, 21-17.
Doubles: Krishna Prasad Garaga & Vishnu Vardhan Goud Panjala bt Christo Popov & Toma Junior Popov (Fra) 21-17, 10-21, 22-20; Callum Hemming & Steven Stallwood (Eng) bt M.R. Arjun & Dhruv Kapila 21-19, 18-21, 23-21.
