Saina storms into Malaysian Open semis

India's Saina Nehwal fought her way into the semi-finals of the Malaysian Open Superseries badminton event, defeating Denmark's Tine Baun 21-13, 21-23, 21-13 in a last-eight match here yesterday.

Saina maintained the lead through the first game after a tentative beginning against the sixth-ranked Baun.u00a0The Dane fought back in the second from a 10-14 deficit to earn herself two game points on 20-18. Saina took the next two points for deuce but Baun raised her play to level the match.

It was neck-to-neck in the decider before Saina took a comfortable 16-10 lead.u00a0The Hyderabadi World No 4 next takes on China's Wang Yihan, who beat compatriot Xuerui Li 21-13, 21-15 in their quarter-final yesterday.u00a0