Swiss Open GP Gold: Saina Nehwal tames Minatsu Mitani in Women’s Singles semi-final
India’s Saina Nehwal continued her impressive winning streak as she reached into Women’s Singles final after taming Japan’s Minatsu Mitani in semi-final clash of Swiss Open GP Gold 2012 at Basel, Switzerland, on Saturday, March 17.
An in-form Saina, who has been placed at number five in Women’s Singles world rankings, showed an elevated performance in the semi-final encounter against the lower ranked Minatsu and won the contest in straight games without any trouble.
On the other hand, Minatsu could not cope up with the speed and perfection of her higher ranked Indian opponent and lost the 35-minute match without taking any set.
Right from the initial stage in the first game, Saina remained on the driving seat and dictated the pace of rallies with a wonderful ease.
She was quite smooth in the court and managed a striking lead of 11-5 until the one-minute interval.
After the break, Minatsu tried to play fast badminton but she failed to take the bird early as her opponent was playing with wonderful variations in her strokes.
Saina was fully focused in the game and managed to win it easily by a comfortable 21-16 score on the board.
In the second set, Minatsu showed her brilliance in the game as she played with precision this time and remained successful in setting up a reasonable lead of 7-3.
In the meanwhile, Saina found her flow and levelled the score by reaching at 7-7.
The higher ranked Indian was on the driving seat as she managed to take a three-point advantage of 11-8 until the end of opening half.
After the break, Minatsu tried her best to level the score but failed as her higher ranked challenger was everywhere in the court.
Saina did not show mercy to her lower ranked Japanese opponent in the concluding half of second game and remained successful in ending it with a decent margin of 21-18.
The Indian won this straight-set battle in 35 minutes with a 21-16 and 21-18 score on the board.
In the final encounter, Saina will be up against the World Number Three Wang Shixian of China, who won her semi-final match against Thailand’s Inthanon Ratchanok in straight sets.
Tags: