CWG: India storm into mixed team badminton final

Gold Coast (Australia) April 8 (IANS) World No.2 Kidambi Srikanth and London Olympics medallist Saina Nehwal guided India to the final of the mixed team badminton event beating Singapore 3-1 in the semi-final at the 21st Commonwealth Games here on Sunday.

World No.12 Saina s win against Jia Min Yeo sealed India s win after the men s doubles duo of Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty shockingly lost the third match of the contest. Earlier Srikanth outclassed Kean Yew Loh in the men s singles tie after the mixed doubles duo of Satwik Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa gave India a winning start. India got to a 1-0 lead after the mixed doubles duo of Satwik and Ashwini overcame a stiff challenge from Yong Kai Terry Hee and Jia Ying Crystal Wong to win 22-20 21-18 in a 42-minute contest. Srikanth the top seed doubled India s lead by going past Kean 21-17 21-14 in the men s singles match that lasted for 37 minutes at Court 1 of the Carrara Sports Arena 2. India however received a scare in the third tie of the contest as the men s doubles pair of Satwik and Chirag went down 21-17 9-21 12-21 to the duo of Yong Kai Terry Hee and Danny Bawa Chrisnanta. After taking the first game 21-17 the Indian pair struggled in the second game 9-21 and it was for the first time that the Indians were made to sweat it out in the decider. The Singaporean duo led 11-7 midway into the third game and went on to stifle the Indians by pocketing it comfortably at the end. With the team 2-1 up all eyes were on experienced Saina to propel India to the final and the Hyderabadi responded in style by thrashing Jia 21-8 21-15 in a 38-minute contest. Saina who did not have to play her part in the 3-0 quarter-final win against Mauritius on Saturday jumped to a 11-3 lead midway into the first game before pocketing it comfortably 21-8. In the second the Singaporean shuttler managed to give a fight but Saina used all her experience to negate the chances of an upset. India will now take on the winner of the second semi-final between England and Malaysia in the gold medal match on Monday. --IANS tri/