Saina Nehwal booked a spot in the semifinals. (Source: Reuters)
Saina Nehwal assured India of two medals from BWF World Championships after she beat local Kirsty Gilmour 21-19, 18-21, 21-15 in 74 minutes to book a semifinal spot few hours after PV Sindhu won her quarterfinal match in the tournament, taking place in Glasgow, Scotland.
The 27-year old Saina survived a career-threatening injury, made her way back in the circuit and is now back to winning ways. She displayed resilient character to make a comeback after going down in the second game. The first two games remained a nail-biting thriller as both the girls ensured that the opposition does not take advantage of any error. However, the Olympic bronze medallist took and maintained early lead in the deciding game to ensure that there was no way for Scotland’s Gilmour to make a comeback.
With the win, Saina has now assured India of two medals after PV Sindhu’s dominating victory against Sun Yu earlier in the day. This is the first time India will return with two medals from the BWF World Championships.
In another match, Rio Olympics gold medallist and defending champion Carolina Marin got knocked out by Nozomi Okuhara 21-18, 14-21, 21-15 in a 93 minute long affair. Earlier in the day, in-form Kidambi Srikanth lost 21-14, 21-18 to Son Wan Ho in 48 minutes to make an exit from the tournament.
