Saina Nehwal beats Nozomi Okuhara to enter Malaysia Masters semi-final

Former world number one Saina Nehwal defeated Nozomi Okuhara of Japan to make it to the semi-final round of the ongoing Malaysian Masters here on Friday.

The 28-year-old thrashed Okuhara 21-18, 23-21 in their quarter-final clash that lasted 48 minutes.

The Indian shuttler notched up a total of five consecutive points in the match along with three game points to emerge victorious. Nehwal dominated most parts of the clash and won 44 rallies as compared to Okuhara's figure of 39.

In the men's singles event, India's Kidambi Srikanth will look to book his berth in the semi-final of the tournament while taking on Son Wan Ho of South Korea in their quarter-final match later today.

On Thursday, Parupalli Kashyap bowed out of the tournament after suffering a 17-21 23-25 loss to Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia in their pre-quarters clash of the men's singles event.

In the women's doubles event, Indian pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy also suffered an 18-21 17-21 loss to Indonesian combination of Ni Ketut Mahadewi Istarani and Rizki Amelia Pradipta in their pre-quarterfinal stage, ending their campaign in the tournament.

-ANI