Saina downs world champ

Sundays are no holidays for Saina Nehwal,but shes not complaining these last two weeks when shes been expected to be at her working best and win some titles....

Sundays are no holidays for Saina Nehwal,but shes not complaining these last two weeks when shes been expected to be at her working best and win some titles. Having picked the Indian Open Grand Prix Gold championship last week swatting aside a very weak field,Nehwal is now gunning to add another Super Series trophy to her cabinet,when she faces little-known Chinese Taipei shuttler Tzu Ying Tai at Singapore.

Like her last Super Series win almost a year ago,Nehwal has beaten two Chinese in a row - her semifinal victory over reigning World champion Lu Lan a repeat of her Indonesia triumph en route to the final. On Saturday,Nehwal beat back Lu Lans imperious first-set domination to rally to a 8-21,21-17,21-8 win in the penultimate round and make her second straight final in successive weeks.

Tricky final

The World No.6 Indians final,though,is expected to be a tricky affair with the lanky Taipese youngster having come through the qualifiers,and taken into her long strides Japanese fifth seed Eriko Hirose,top Thai player Salakjit Ponsana and Korean Youn Joo Bae.

In her semifinals,Nehwal was determined to not let fourth seeded Lu Lans opening set smashing blitz ruffle her nerves further than the initial jitters. She was very aggressive in the first game,when I was a little tense. I slowed down the pace after that,which got her tired, the top-seeded Indian said. With both shuttlers equally effective at the net and the Chinese getting the better of the smashes-count 12-7,Nehwal relied on her crosscourts and drops,since Lan looked in control against the smashes. She was returning everything when I tried to smash hard. But I started hitting down-the-line, Nehwal says of her ploy of making the heavy-set Chinese run back and forth,aiding her better than an all-out attack which was coming unstuck.

After a slow start in the opener,Nehwal chased the Chinese who could never quite keep safe her lead,and from there-on the Indian broke away at 17-all to claim four straight points,having dictated the pace of the game. The decider saw the tired Chinese give up pretty early on as Nehwal raced to a win in 49 minutes to enter her second Super Series final.

Nehwal will be wary of the 118-ranked Taiwanese though,considering her string of higher-ranked scalps. Having never played her before,theres also the familiar unfamiliarity which has caught the Indian ace on the wrong foot before. Im playing her for the first time,but she wont be easy because shes beaten a few big names here, Nehwal said,of her opponent who plays a game typical of all Chinese Taipei shuttlers. They all drive a lot,and play the long rallies, said the Indian whose biggest worry will be the tiredness of the last two weeks. I should recover and will be ready to play tomorrow. Its my second final,so im excited, she said.

In the mens semifinal,P Kashyap went down to Sony Dwi Kuncoro 21-19,22-20,staying level with the seasoned Indonesian,but edged out in the defining points during their 48-minute match.