PV Sindhu beats Saina Nehwal in clash of titans

New Delhi: In an exciting clash, Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu on Friday prevailed over compatriot Saina Nehwal in a hard-fought straight-game encounter to advance to the semifinals of the India Open Super Series here.

Sindhu emerged victorious over her senior pro 21-16 22-20 in the much-anticipated contest to set up a clash with second seeded Korean Sung Ji Hyun in the semifinals on Saturday.

Saina, a London Olympics bronze medallist, and Sindhu had previously met each other just once in an international competition -- at the 2014 Syed Modi International – where Saina had won in straight games.

They had played against each other in PBL early this year with Sindhu having got an upper hand. They had also faced each other in the Indian Badminton League in 2013 when Saina emerged victorious.

Earlier in the day, second seeded Korean Sung Ji Hyun edged out defending champion Ratchanok Intanon, seeded fifth, 21-16 22-20, while fourth seeded Akane Yamaguchi staved off a challenge from former All England champion Nozomi Okuhara, seeded seventh, 21-13 11-21 21-18 in an all-Japanese contest.

In men's singles, two-time runners-up Viktor Axelsen of Denmark eked out a hard-fought 19-21 21-14 21-16 win over Chinese Taipei's Tzu Wei Wang to reach the semifinals.