Zeenews Sports Bureau
New Delhi: Ace Indian shuttler and World No. 2 Saina Nehwal defeated sixth seed Chinese Shixian Wang 23-21, 19-21, 21-16 in the pre-quarterfinals of the All England Championship.
Saina saved a game point in the first set and surprised her opponent with some excellent play at the nets. Even in the second game, she was trailing by five points at one stage, but she once again produced a fight back that surprised the former World No. 1. But Wang dominated the later part of the second game and won it 21-19.
In the decisive game, Saina was leading 15-8 at one stage but the Chinese won four straight points from there and came back in the contest. Saina was leading 20-15 when Wang saved a match point and Saina won the next to win the match.
However, world number nine Parupalli Kashyap was defeated by second seed Chen Long 21-16 21-10 in the men's singles competition.
Saina had earlier defeated Belaetrix Manuputi of Indonesia in the second round of the women`s singles competition.
First Published: Friday, March 08, 2013, 23:52