Saina Nehwal in semifinal of Indonesia Opener

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NEW DELHI: India's Saina Nehwal moved into the semifinal of the Indonesia Open Super Series badminton with a 21-19, 21-19 victory over Tine Baun of Denmark in Jakarta, Friday.

Saina, seeded fourth, scored her first victory over Baun after two defeats.

The defending champion will next play unseeded Shao Chieh Cheng of Chinese Taipei, who got the better of China's Xin Liu 21-17, 21-15. Saina will get a chance to avenge her last week's second round loss to Chieh Cheng in the Sinagpore Open where she went down in three games.

Saina is aiming for a hat-trick of titles in Indonesia.

In the other semifinal, China's Yihan Wang, seeded third, will take on compatriot Yanjiao Jiang, seeded sixth.

Saina was leading 6-3 in the first game before Baun surged ahead reeling off seven straight points. Saina worked her way up and levelled at 12-12. It was then a close battle, but Saina took four points from 17-18 to win the first game.

In the second game, Saina took the initial lead and Baun followed her. Saina led 12-7, but Baun closed the gap. The Indian stepped up her game and established a 17-13 lead. Baun again fought her way to equalise, but Saina nosed ahead in the last stretch to seal the issue in 37 minutes.

Keywords: latest sports news, Saina Nehwal, Indonesia Opener, badminton