Super Saina, Srikanth book semifinal berths
Saina topped her group ,while Srikanth came second in his group
New Delhi: Saina Nehwal topped her group to march into the women’s singles semifinals, while Kidambi Srikanth reached the last four stage despite losing his last men’s singles round robin match at the BWF World Super Series Finals in Dubai on Friday.
Saina clinched a pulsating thriller against Bae Yeon Ju of Korea 15-21, 21-7, 21-17. Later in the day, Srikanth gave third-ranked Jan O. Jorgensen a hard time before going down 21-17, 12-21, 14-21. However, both advanced to the knockout stage. Jorgensen finished first in Group ‘B’ and Srikanth second.
Saina tried to dictate the rallies, pushing Bae to commit errors and took a 10-4 lead. The Korean grabbed two points at the net and followed it up with a brilliant drop to narrow the gap. But Saina’s deceptive return found Bae napping and she led 11-8 at break. After the breather, Bae tightened her defence and dug deep in the rallies. She pushed the Indian to make mistakes, to not only clawed back at 14-14 but also win the game when Saina hit wideIn the decider, Saina brought out her best to win. the match.