Saina advances to semis of Swiss Open

Basel: Two-time defending champion Saina Nehwal booked her berth in the women`s singles semifinals of the $125,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold at St. Jakobshalle on Friday.

The top seed made short work of her Chinese Taipei opponent Tzu Ying Tai in straight games in the quarterfinal of the tier three of the tournament. Saina beat the sixth seed 21-11, 21-12 in half an hour. With this match, the World No.2 extended her head-to-head tally over Tzu to 5-2 in career meetings. Saina completely dominated the entire match from the start and never allowed the World No.10 to settle down. She retrieved almost every smash of her opponent which frustrated Tzu into making many unforced errors, putting the game completely into the Indian shuttler’s hand. Saina next faces old nemesis and World No.7 Shixian Wang of China in the semifinals. Saina, who has a 4-1 head-to-head against the fourth seed, recently beat Shixian in a thrilling three game encounter in the quarterfinals of the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham last week. IANS