Saina Nehwal beats Wang Yihan in straight games to enter Australian Open final

Saina Nehwal was in top form on Saturday

India’s Saina Nehwal blazed her way into the final of the 2016 Australian Open, after beating China’s Wang Yihan 21-8 21-12 in the semifinal at the Sports Centre in Sydney on Saturday.

The 26-year-old began the match in sensational fashion, taking a 7-1 lead before extending it 11-2 at the interval mark in the opening game. Her dominance over proceedings continued after the break as well, as the Indian with a combination down-the-line and cross court hits as well as some fine body shots, marched her way to 21-8 win to put enormous pressure on her Chinese opponent.

The second game saw a similar script unfold, as Saina started off on a positive note, taking a 6-3 lead before making it 11-4 at the interval. It was one-way traffic after the break as well as it seemed like Saina was in no mood to let go of her grip over proceedings, winning the game 21-12 to end her streak of 5 semifinal losses in 2016 and enter her maiden final of the year.

The Indian will take on Sun Yu of China in the final on Sunday.

Srikanth loses in semifinal

On one front, if Saina’s win brought a lot of joy for fans, Kidambi Srikanth couldn’t quite do the same. He lost his semifinal to Hans Kristian Vittinghus 22-20 21-13

Quick Links

Edited by Staff Editor