Denmark Open | Saina Nehwal reaches final as Kidambi Srikanth crashes out

After seeing off the likes of Akane Yamaguchi and Nozomi Okuhara in the pre-quarters and the quarters, Saina was the undisputed favourites in the semi-final clash against the Indonesian. Tunjung was never in the game from the very start as the only time she could lead in the first game was in the first point. Saina soon equalized and opened up a three-point lead at 4-1. Tunjung could hardly recover from that as Saina went into the break 11-5 and finished the first game 21-11.

Many expected the Indonesian to show some grit in the second game and she did. After going down 3-1, Tunjung came close to equalize at 4-3 before levelling at 7-7. But that was pretty much it as Saina entered the break at 11-8 before sealing the second game at 21-12 and the match 2-0. It took her 30 minutes to finish the duel and now Nehwal will be facing her biggest battle next when she faces Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying in the final.

India’s only other hope in the tournament was Srikanth, who had shown consistency against many expectations to reach the semis, beating the likes of Lin Dan and Jonathan Christie in the previous rounds. However, Momota was his biggest challenge in the tournament so far and despite putting up a fight, Srikanth eventually succumbed to a defeat.

Srikanth’s only resilience came in the first game where he was seen levelling things at 5-5, 9-9, and 10-10 before Momota went into the break with a one-point lead. Post break, the closest Srikanth could come to his opponent was at 15-13, before Momota ran away with it 21-16. The second game was even more straightforward with the India levelling as early as 2-2 and 4-4. Momota went into the break at 11-8 before winning it 21-12.