Indian badminton star overcame a jittery start to defeat China's He Bingjiao 18-21, 21-12, 21-18 in their Indonesia Masters semi-final and booked a spot in the final clash. She now awaits the winner of the clash between Chen Yufei and Carolina Marin.
It was an intense match as both players went full throttle, but the Indian ace held her nerves at the crucial moments to clinch the match. Saina started off like a train in the first game and pulled ahead significantly before Bingjiao came back strongly and took the first set 18-21.
However, the Indian did not look too ruffled and came back hard to take the second game 21-12. With the spot in the final on the line, both the players went full throttle in the final set and it was an absolute roller-coaster. Nehwal held the jitters and looked composed in the final stretch of the final game to win the set and the match 21-18.
P Kashyap, who was on the coach's chair, asked Saina to up the tempo when she was trailing 6-10 in the final game and that is when the tide starting changing. The Indian increased the pace of the rallies and was soon in her elements to clinch the game 21-18.
It has been a positive start to the year for Saina, continuing from where she left off last year. She had clinched gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, a bronze at the Asian Games. Also, she made it to the Denmark Open, Indonesia Open and Syed Modi International last year.
