Commonwealth Games 2018: Sindhu and Saina to Face-Off in women’s singles final

Premier Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will face-off in the women’s singles final in the Commonwealth Games 2018 on Sunday after they thrashed their respective opponents in the semi-final round here on Saturday.

World No.3 P.V Sindhu defeated Michelle Li from Canada in straight games 21-18, 21-8 while Saina stayed firm in a close contest to overcome Kirsty Gilmour from Scotland 21-14, 18-21, 21-17.

Both Sindhu and Saina kept their unbeaten run alive and their victories over lower-ranked opponents went on expected lines.

Sindhu started with a slender 11-10 lead midway into her first game against the Canadian, before extending to 14-11 and then to 19-15. The Indian, however allowed the Canadian to sneak in a few points towards the end but managed to wrest back the lead and clinch the tie in 22 minutes.

The second game witnessed a complete domination from the Rio Olympics silver medallist, breezing away with a 11-4 lead at the break before stretching her lead to 18-8 and eventually closing the contest in



mere 14 minutes.

Earlier, London bronze medallist Saina defeated the World No.18 Scottish 21-14, 18-21, 21-17 in a pulsating semi-final contest that lasted for an hour and five minutes.

Saina opened up a 5-0 lead early in the first game before Kirsty managed to open her account to trail 8-11 midway. Coming back, there was no stopping the Indian who raced to a 17-13 lead before closing the game in 21 minutes.

The second game also started on similar lines with Saina opening up with a 4-0 lead before stretching it further to 11-3 at the breather. Saina continued her domination in the second half but Kirsty came back strongly to square things at 15-15.

From there on, Kirsty never looked back and managed to lead for the first time at 18-17 before closing the game in 23 minutes.

In the decider, Saina gathered herself to surge ahead with a 7-2 lead before Kirsty reduced the deficit to trail 7-11 midway. Coming back, Saina never allowed the Scottish girl to settle down and closed the affair in 24 minutes.