Saina marches into Australian Open semis

Sydney: India`s Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal marched into the women`s singles semi-finals of the $750,000 Australian Badminton Open Super Series at the States Sports Centre here Friday.

The sixth seeded Hyderabadi needed only 47 minutes in the quarter-final to oust Japan`s Eriko Hirose 21-18, 21-9 to level her career head-to-head to four-all. In the next match, the World No.8 Saina will take on the winner of the match between China`s top seed Shixian Wang and Chinese Taipei`s fifth seed Tzu Ying Tai. Saina`s compatriot and eighth seed P.V. Sindhu will play her last-eight clash later in the day against Spain`s Carolina Marin.