Fourth seed PV Sindhu reached the semi-final of Singapore Open 2019 Super 500 tournament on Friday after surviving a scare against Chinese teenager Cai Yanyan.
Sindhu started the quarter-final on a sluggish note but gained momentum to clinch the first game 21-13. However, Yanyan came up with a spirited fight in the second game to take it 21-17 and force a decider.
Sindhu though maintained composure and took the deciding game without further setbacks. She was leading 11-5 at the mid-game intervals and didn't look back from there. With the win over lower-ranked Yanyan, Sindhu has reached only her second semi-final on the tour on what has been a difficult year for the ace shuttler.
Sindhu will face arch-rival and second seed Nozomi Okuhara in the semi-final on Saturday. Saina loses quarter-final in straight games
Earlier in the day, sixth seed Saina Nehwal lost her women's singles quarter-final match to Okuhara in a one-sided affair – 21-8, 21-13. Saina looked sluggish against the former world champion, who just needed 38 minutes to book a place in the semi-final.
Notably, Saina had withdrawn from the Swiss Open and India Open last month due to a stomach illness and it seemed the ace shuttler hadn't recovered well from the setback.
Saina started poorly, conceding a 9-0 lead to Okuhara and the Indian shuttler never recovered from the early setback. It was clearly not Saina's day as the former world number one, known for making comebacks, let slip a four-point lead in the second game to end up losing it 21-13.
Despite the lower seeding, Saina was having a slender edge over her opponent, having won their last three clashes, including the tie at Malaysia Masters earlier this year.
