India’s Saina Nehwal entered into the semifinals of the 2016Autralian Open, after beating Ratchanak Intanon of Thailand 28-26 21-16 in the quarterfinal on Friday.
The opening game proved to be a topsy-turvy affair from the start as the difference in points hardly crossed one on more than a few occasions, but importantly, it was the Indian who was always ahead and she led 11-10 at the interval.
After the break, Saina continued to maintain her grip over proceedings , but things got real tight from the 20-19 mark when needing a solitary point to win the game, she failed to convert on 6 consecutive occasions as Intanon showed fantastic fight, to eventually win the game 28-26.
It was a much more straight-forward affair in the second game for the Indian as with a combination of down-the-line and cross court hits, she won the game 21-16 to make it into her 6th semifinal across competitions in 2016.
Saina will play the winner of the match between Tzu Ying Tai and Wang Yihan on Saturday.
Srikanth into the final 4
In double delight for India, Kidambi Srikanth also made his way into the final 4 of the competition after beating Kwang Ho Heo 21-18 21-17 in his quarterfinal on Friday. It was easy going for the Indian in both games as he led by considerable margins throughout, not allowing his opponent any space to make any inroads to eventually win the tie in straight games and set up a semifinal vs Hans Kristian Vittinghus of Denmark.
