Australian Open | Back-to-form Saina beats Wang Yihan to reach final
Saina Nehwal simply outclassed Wang Yihan in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in Sydney on Saturday to reach the final in emphatic fashion. In what was clearly a confidence-boosting win before Rio, the Indian beat Yihan 21-8, 21-12 with a display of naked aggression combined with agility.
In a repeat of the Badminton Asia Championships semi-final, Saina took on old nemesis Wang Yihan. The previous encounter had ended in defeat for Saina as she had lost it in straight sets. Wang Yihan had, for long, been the Indian’s bugbear, enjoying an 8-0 head-to-head against her although Saina has managed to pull back a few to make it 4-11.
None of that seemed to matter for Saina in this last-four match though, as she started off in emphatic fashion, taking a 10-1 lead. Particularly impressive was a backhand punch to the left corner of Yihan's court that left the Chinese stranded at the net at 6-1. At 7-1, Saina made her intent clear again as she hit a full-blooded mid-court smash that left Wang Yihan stunned. Saina moved much better than she has all tournament reaching the shuttle with ample time. Using deft hands and accurate smashes, she kept Yihan on her back-foot. Yihan was pressurized into making errors and she could barely put up a fight as Saina took the first game 21-8.
In the second set, Saina started out with some exquisite disguised drops from the back court, and they seemed to be working extremely well. Yihan read them wrong or too late, giving the Indian clear opportunities to dictate the rallies. There was a marked improvement in Saina’s net play from her quarterfinal match against Ratchanok Intanon as she dribbled wonderfully catching the Chinese in tough situations. The 7th seed’s confidence was sky high, judging the shuttle to perfection, unlike in he quarter-final against the Thai. This renewed vigor completely overwhelmed Wang Yihan, and she could not do much in the second game either. Saina’s dominant movement and stroke-play gave her a lead of 11-4 into the interval.
With the right combination of off cross-court strokes and net dribbles, Saina left no chance for Yihan to make a comeback. She eventually won the match at the third time of asking with a body smash to reach the summit clash with a 21-8, 21- 12 victory.