Saina Nehwal in semis, Ajay Jayaram, Gurusaidutt bow out

Once again, it is Saina Nehwal who is the lone Indian standing in the semifinals of a Super Series badminton event. In the Indonesia Open Super Series Premier quarterfinals in Jakarta on Friday, in which three Indians featured, only Saina advanced.

The upcoming RMV Gurusaidutt and the experienced Ajay Jayaram were knocked out opponents ranked marginally above them.

Saina defeated Spain’s 27th-ranked Carolina Marin 21-16 21-19 in 39 minutes to set up a semifinal bout against European, Juliane Schenk of Germany,

Among men, world No. 23 Gurusaidutt was defeated by Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto, 20th rank, 21-19 11-21 10-21 while 25th rank Jayaram bowed down to Germany’s world No. 22 Marc Zwiebler 16-21 15-21.

Though Indian men are making a some progress in the international circuit, they have hardly entered the semifinals of a Super Series. The best ranked Indian, Parupalli Kashyap (10th), who exited in the first round, has been highly inconsistent as far as reaching the business end of the tournaments are concerned.

This is where Saina stands out, entering her second Super Series Premier semifinal this year. Following dismal performances in her previous two tournaments this year, Saina has bounced back to form and also cast aside doubts of any injury.

Conceding an early lead to Marin, Saina bagged nine points to Carolina’s four from 12-all and eventually clinched the first game 21-16.

However in the second game, the left-handed Spaniard led from the start. But Saina used all her experience by winning the next six points to bag the game and match.