Asia Badminton Championship: Saina Nehwal enters semis, plays Wang Yihan of China

New Delhi: Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal entered the semi-final of Asia Badminton Championship with a straight game win over Wang Shixian in Wuhan on Thursday.

Seeded fifth in the tournament, Indian shuttler produced a controlled performance of aggression and caution to beat former World Champion Wang of China 21-16 21-19.

In the semis, the 26-year-old Indian will play another Chinese, Wang Yihan, who defeated Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in three games later in the day. The sixth seeded Chinese girl won 8-21, 21-13, 21-19.

Saina has a 9-4 career head-to-head lead over her semi-final opponent.

Saina, who lost the Shixian in the last two meetings at Australia Open and Indonesia Open, started well to take a 3-0 lead. Then, from a close fight towards close of the game, Saina won four straight points to win the first game 21-16.

The second game followed the same script as Saina gained a 3-0 lead. But her Chinese opponent posed greater threat, and at one point, the score are 19-19.

But Saina hold her nerves to complete a straight game win other the third seeded player.