Malaysia Masters | Saina Nehwal cruises into the semis

In the opening game, Fitriani raced to an 11-6 lead before the World no.10 fought back to win four points in a row and ended up making it 13-12 in her favour. Saina won the last five points of the game consecutively to win it 21-15. Fitriani, ranked no.40 in the world, remained in contention for the second set till 13-12 before Saina raced ahead to win the game 21-14.

Saina will now face the 5th seed Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong in the semi-final later today. The Indian star holds a 6-2 lead in the head-to-head record against Yin and has won all of her last five matches against her. The duo last faced each other in the Uber Cup in 2014, where Saina won 21-9, 21-10.

In the men’s singles, Ajay Jayaram succumbed to a one-sided defeat against World no. 40 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting by a score of 13-21, 8-21 in the semi-final clash on Friday. The sixth-seeded Jayaram had won the last encounter between the players at the Hong Kong Open in a marathon three-set encounter last year. However, the 20-year-old Ginting was too strong for Jayaram in this match.