New Delhi: Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal reached her first semi-final of the new season after eking out a hard-fought three-game victory over Tine Baun of Denmark in the Malaysian Super Series in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
The world number four had to toil hard before prevailing over two-time All England Champion Tine 21-13 21-23 21-13 in the women singles quarter-final match, which lasted a little less than an hour.
The 21-year-old Saina 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 a straight six points helped Saina zoom past her and take a 14-10 lead. However, the Dane was not someone to let it go so easily, and she caught up with the Indian at 15-15 and held on to the fight by winning the second game and drawing 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 semi-finals on Saturday, Saina will take on the winner of the quarter-final match between top seed and world number one Chinese Yihan Wang and Xuerui Li.
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