CWG: Saina sets date with Sindhu in women s singles final

Gold Coast (Australia) April 14 (IANS) World No.3 P.V Sindhu set up an all-Indian women s singles final with World No.12 Saina Nehwal in women s badminton competition at the 21st Commonwealth Games here on Saturday.

While Sindhu thrashed Canada s Michelle Li in straight games 21-18 21-8 in the semi-final Saina overcame a stiff contest from Scotland s Kirsty Gilmour winning by 21-14 18-21 21-17 and set her date with her compartriot in the summit clash on Sunday.

Both Sindhu and Saina kept their unbeaten run alive and their victories over lower-ranked opponents went on expected lines.

Sindhu started with a slender 11-10 lead midway into her first game against the Canadian before extending to 14-11 and then to 19-15. The Indian however allowed the Canadian to sneak in a few points towards the end but managed to wrest back the lead and clinch the tie in 22 minutes.

The second game witnessed a complete domination from the Rio Olympics silver medallist breezing away with a 11-4 lead at the break before stretching her lead to 18-8 and eventually closing the contest in mere 14 minutes.

Earlier London bronze medallist Saina defeated the World No.18 Scottish 21-14 18-21 21-17 in a pulsating semi-final contest that lasted for an hour and five minutes.

Saina opened up a 5-0 lead early in the first game before Kirsty managed to open her account to trail 8-11 midway. Coming back there was no stopping the Indian who raced to a 17-13 lead before closing the game in 21 minutes.

The second game also started on similar lines with Saina opening up with a 4-0 lead before stretching it further to 11-3 at the breather. Saina continued her domination in the second half but Kirsty came back strongly to square things at 15-15.

From there on Kirsty never looked back and managed to lead for the first time at 18-17 before closing the game in 23 minutes.

In the decider Saina gathered herself to surge ahead with a 7-2 lead before Kirsty reduced the deficit to trail 7-11 midway. Coming back Saina never allowed the Scottish girl to settle down and closed the affair in 24 minutes.

--IANS
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