Saina fights her way into Malaysian Open semis

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India's Saina Nehwal fought her way into the semifinals of the Malaysian Open Superseries badminton event, defeating Denmark's Tine Baun 21-13, 21-23, 21-13 in a last-eight match here Friday.

Saina had defeated Baun in straight games to make it to the final of the World Superseries Finals last month but the match here turned out to be a much tighter affair, lasting close to an hour.

The World No.4 takes on the winner of the all-Chinese clash between Wang Yihan and Xuerui Li scheduled later in the day.

Saina maintained the lead through the first game after a tentative beginning against the sixth-ranked Baun.

The Danish fought back in the second from a 10-14 deficit to earn herself two game points on 20-18. Saina took the next two points for deuce but Baun raised her play to level the match.

It was neck-to-neck in the decider before Saina took a comfortable 16-10 lead.