On Friday, Saina Nehwal of India who is a World No.3 shuttler won a thrilling and power packed encounter against former World No.1 Shixian Wang here at the National Indoor Arena to reach the women's singles semifinals at the All England Open Badminton Championships.

Moreover, Saina, who reached the semis in 2010 also, overcame nemesis Shixian of China in the decider and the Hyderabadi beat the sixth seed 23-21, 19-21, 21-16 in a marathon Super Series Premier match which lasted one hour and 14 minutes. As matter of fact remains this is the fourth time Saina beat Shixian in five career meetings ensuring the exit of all Chinese women from singles competition. In fact, Saina authoritatively proceeded from the start as her Chinese opponent was uncomfortable against her and that this was obvious as the Hyderabadi had won their last three encounters.

It seems that Shixian looked nervous in the beginning but she fought back to not just equalise but also take a crucial 19-16 lead over Saina in the first game. But the Indian showed outstanding boldness by not just coming back but also saving a gamepoint before taking the game while she used body smashes at the right time and jump smashes with exquisite placement at crucial junctures of the match while Shixian, though not in the best of form lately, displayed superb skill at the net to take away vital points. The sixth seed was known to have started aggressively in the second game as she took a 6-1 lead before Saina closed the gap.

The Chinese, again with the skillful touches, took a lead of 13-8 but Saina's ability to regain and her never-say-die attitude brought her back into the game as she took nine consecutive points to go 17-13 up. But Shixian had the last word in the game as she won the last two points of the game.

To say more, Shixian started well in the third but Saina won seven consecutive points from 6-7 down to lead 13-7 from where she never looked back as a result booked her spot in the last four.

To conclude, the Indian second seed next going to face Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon or German Juliane Schenk on Saturday.

That was an outstanding display of boldness from the Indian world champion lady earning herself a thrilling achievement!

A big congratulations to Saina!

(AW:Samrat Biswas)