Saina fights past Wang,Kashyap cruises into semis

The see-saw battle saw both Saina and Shixian finding it difficult to control the shuttle. Committing a lot of errors,Saina finally got back her bearing and went into the break at 11-10. After the break,the smashes were out and both traded points till 16-16. But Saina kept her patience and went into lead by pushing the shuttle at the back court.

In the second game,Saina pushed her opponent to the limits and opened up a 8-4 lead. The fitness of both the players were tested but with Shixian’s game crumbling,Saina led 17-13. But unforced errors allowed Shixian to narrow the gap. Aggressive net play by Shixian and error in judgement by Saina allowed the Chinese save three match points and grab the lead at 22-21.

Saina started the decider positively and took a 10-6 lead. However,Shixian used her drops and half smashes to register five straight points and grab the advantage. Saina earned a couple of points at the nets but the drift once again came to haunt the Indian as she made another misjudgement. Shixian won a long rally narrowed it 19-20 before another mammoth rally helped Saina grab the match point.

Earlier in the day,25-year-old Kashyap cruised into the semifinals with a 21-15 21-14 victory over Hans-Kristian Vittinghus of Denmark. Kashyap took early initiative and moved to a 10-6 lead.

Vittinghus narrowed down the gap but the Indian,with his 17 smash winners,was too good for the Dane. In the second game,the duo fought hard till 9-9 before Kashyap once again moved ahead and held fort to earn his place at the semi-finals. He will next take on seventh seed Simon Santoso of Indonesia.