Saina edges past Tine Baun, enters semis of Malaysian Super Series

New Delhi: Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal today reached her first semifinal of the new season after pulling off a hard-fought three-game victory over Tine Baun of Denmark in the Malaysian Super Series in Kuala Lumpur. The Indian world number four had to toil hard before prevailing over two-time All England champion Tine 21-13, 21-23, 21-13 in a quarterfinal match that lasted a little less than an hour. [caption id=“attachment_181583” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Saina Nehwal beat Denmark’s Tine Baun, a former All-England champion, 21-13, 21-23, 21-13 in the quarters. AFP”]  [/caption] Saina, 21, kept the pressure on her rival and played a lot of smashes though she gained more points with her dribbling at the net. In the first game, Saina opened up a narrow lead after 5-5 but Tine kept breathing down her neck at 9-10 before the Indian started reeling off straight points to widen the gap and then take a 1-0 lead. Not ready to lie low, Tine raced to a three-point lead in the second game but straight six points helped Saina zoom past her and take 14-10 lead. However, the Dane was not someone to let it go so easily as she caught up with the Indian at 15-15 and held on to the fight by winning the second game and draw level. In the decider, Tine again managed to open up a narrow two-point lead early but Saina soon gathered herself and changed the calculation by leading 9-7 and kept the pressure intact as Tine’s game crumbled. In the semifinals tomorrow, Saina will take on the winner between top seed and world number one Chinese Yihan Wang and Xuerui Li. PTI