Saina, Sindhu set for Sunday showdown

Gold Coast: World No 3 PV Sindhu set up an all-Indian women's singles final with World No 12 Saina Nehwal in women's badminton competition at the 21st Commonwealth Games here on Saturday.

While Sindhu thrashed Canada's Michelle Li in straight games 21-18, 21-8 in the semifinal, Saina overcame a stiff contest from Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour winning 21-14, 18-21, 21-17, and set her date with her compatriot in the summit clash on Sunday.

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.