Saina Nehwal enters French Open semifinal

Paris: Top seed Saina Nehwal drew from her reservoir of experience to enter the French Open semifinal after a straight-game win over Thai teen Ratchanok Intanon in the semifinal here. The world number three Indian won 22-20 22-20 in a 42-minute clash during which she was given some anxious moments by the 17-year-old Thai, who is ranked 10th in the international list and seeded seventh in the event. [caption id=“attachment_504751” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] India’s Saina Nehwal has been in great form. Reuters[/caption] Saina, fresh from her Denmark Open triumph last week, will now be up against fourth-seeded German Juliane Schenk, who powered past upcoming Chinese player Chen Xiao Jia 21-10 21-14. It will be a replay of the Denmark Open final in which London Olympics bronze-medallist Saina had emerged triumphant to clinch her second Super series Premier title. In yesterday’s match, Saina started well, taking an 11-7 lead in the first game but Intanon came back strongly to make it 20-20 before the Indian managed to clinch it with her eighth trademark smash of the game. The second game followed a similar script as Intanon tested Saina with her fine strokeplay. But the 22-year-old Hyderabadi drew from experience to come out triumphant and inch closer to her third Super Series title this year. PTI