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Defending champion Saina Nehwal enters China Open semifinals
Saina Nehwal advanced to the semi-finals with a straight games win over Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara at the China Open on Friday.
The only Indian shuttler left in the tournament, defending champion Saina Nehwal advanced to the women’s singles semi-finals with a comprehensive straight games win over Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara at the prestigious $700,000 China Open Superseries Premier in Fuzhou on Friday.
The top seed took just 42 minutes to ease past the World No.10 Japanese 21-16, 21-13 at the Haixia Olympic Sports Center. With the win, the World No.2 took her record against Okuhara to 4-0.
The unseeded Okuhara tried giving Nehwal a fight at the start but once the Hyderabadi found her rhythm, she comfortably clinched the first game.
Nehwal was completely unmatchable in the second game, racing away to a 13-5 lead due to her swift on-court movement. Her drops and smashes also found the floor on her opponent’s side of the court as she sealed the contest on her second match point.
Overall, the 25-year-old Nehwal won 42 of 71 points played in the match.
Next up, Nehwal will take on old foe and former World Champion Yihan Wang of China, who has a 9-3 record against the Indian. However, it is Nehwal who came out on top in the two meetings they have had this year.
