SWEET DAY FOR INDIA'S SANIA

JOHOR BAHARU (Malaysia), Dec 4 (Bernama) -- Like a Bollywood storyline where
the protagonist initially endures the agony of battling the rivals before
finally making the cut, India's badminton hope Saina Nehwal appears to have done
likewise.

At the City Council Indoor Stadium here Friday, she booked her ticket into
the last four of the women's singles Super Series Masters final, but not without
an opening defeat.

Her 21-13,21-19 win over Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk in her final
group match has secured her a ticket into the knockout stages, starting
Saturday.

The tournament's No 1 seed, in the absence of the big names, particularly
from China, had to endure the agony of having made the cut, only at the very
last.

Her opening defeat to Malaysia's Wong Mew Choo had complicated matters for
her but victory over Canada's Charmaine Reid and then Porntip, eased her fears.

"I knew it will go down to the last match for me, in deciding who goes to
the semi-finals from my group. So, I was mentally prepared.

"And now that the group matches are over, I can concentrate on my
preparations for the semi-finals," said Saina, the winner of the Indonesian Open
in May.

Indian badminton also had another reason to celebrate when their mixed
doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V. Diju overcame Thailand's Songphon
Anugritrayawon and Kunchala Voravitch 21-12,21-18, to book their berth into the
last four, alongside the English pair of Donna Kellogg and Anthony Clark.

But for Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat, it's clear his best days are all over
now.

He came to the tournament as someone capable of beating the best in the
world, but defeat to China's Bao Chunlai and Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei meant he
was out of the running for the US$50,000 top prize (US$1 = RM3.35).

Then came his third straight defeat, this time to Chinese Taipei's Hsieh Yu
Hsin, 17-21,21-15 in his final group match Friday.

-- BERNAMA