Saina battles past Nedelcheva into last four of Swiss Open

The Indian,though,managed to keep calm and play her game,moving Petya all around the court and showing great touch at the net. It was,in fact,her net play that won the first game for Saina,who sealed it with a tight spinning net shot. Petya,on the other hand,tried to keep the shuttle in play with her long rallies but failed to break Sainas composure.

In the second game,Saina ledwith a five point gap but Petya fought back to level scores. But in the end it was once more Sainas net play that made the difference as she won the second game 21-19,booking her ticket for the semi-final,where she will look for a fifth straight win over Bae Youn Joo.

The 20-year-old Joo has troubled but never beaten Saina since they first played each other in the juniors over four years ago. In the quarterfinals,Joo played a solid game,hardly making any mistakes. She moved her opponent,Lindaweni Fanetri of Indonesia,around the court at will and won easily in two straight games,21-13,21-4.

Among other Indians,Ajay Jayaram began well in his quarterfinal match against Koreas Park Sung Hwan,leading 5-0 before Park found his game. The rallies became longer and went in favour of the Korean. Park began controlling the game,winning the first game 21-19. The Indian fought back well in the second game but lost out at crucial moments,and went down by an identical margin.