Saina Nehwal defeats Ratnock Intanon to reach Indonesia Masters finals

Saina Nehwal defeats Ratnock Intanon to reach Indonesia Masters finals

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Saina Nehwal defeated former world champion Ratchanok Intanon in straight games to reach the finals of the ongoing Indonesian Masters tournament in Jakarta. Saina Nehwal reached her first masters final in over a year after suffering a career-threatening knee injury back in August 2016.

World No.12, Saina Nehwal reached her first masters' finals as she defeated former world champion Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon  21-19, 21-19 in straight games.

Nehwal took just 49 minutes to triumph over the opponent. She will now face the winner of the second semi-final between World Number one Tai Tzu Ying and China’s He Bingjiao.

Having defeated Sindhu in the quarterfinals, high flying Nehwal benefited from the errors Intanon made in the opening game. The Thai had a two-point advantage going into the break but the World Number 12 leveled scores at 13-13 as she started extending the rallies. Eventually, Intanon’s crucial errors at the net handed Nehwal her first game point and the Indian made no mistake in pocketing the game.

Nehwal took an early 9-2 lead in the second game, but Intanon, who won the Malaysian masters last week, took advantage from Saina’s lack of movement and started engaging the Indian into long rallies. Though, Saina maintained her advantage till the score read 17-11, Intanton then started to show her A game and won six consecutive points to level the score at 17 all.

But the Indian, whose last title triumph came in the Malaysia Masters last year, raised the tempo once again to earn two match points. Intanon though managed to save one match point but eventually fell short in the saving the second and Nehwal’s celebrations clearly showed how much the win meant for her.

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