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Swiss Open badminton: Saina, Prannoy advance to semis

March 19, 2016 10:50 IST

Saina Nehwal

IMAGE: Saina Nehwal in action. Photograph: Christopher Lee/Getty Images

Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and H S Prannoy registered fighting victories in the last eight contests at the $120,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Basel on Friday.

Two-time champion, Saina took another step towards the title after ekeing out a 13-21, 21-15, 21-14 win over seventh seed Japanese, Sayaka Sato, in a 52-minute contest to take her overall head-to-head record to 5-1.

The Olympic bronze medallist will take on her fierce rival Wang Yihan in the semis.

Saina has a 4-9 record against the former World No. 1, but the top-seeded Indian will take confidence from her three wins against the Chinese in 2015.

In the men's singles, 13th seed Prannoy took almost an hour to get across Thailand's Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk to record a 21-18, 22-24, 21-9 win.

The World No. 27 Indian will next face Tzu Wei Wang of Chinese Taipei.

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