Saina outshines Pui Yin to reach Malaysia Masters final

Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal thrashed Hong Kong's Yip Pui Yin in straight games to storm into the women's singles final of the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold here on Saturday.

World No.30 Yip Pui Yin lost steam after going neck and neck till the break in the first game before World No.10 Saina used all her experience to take the match 21-13, 21-10 in just over 30 minutes.

The 26-year-old Indian started the first game taking a two-point lead before Pui Yin bounced back to take the lead 8-5 and further consolidated it to 11-9 in the breather.

Coming back, top seeded Saina picked her game up to overhaul the lead to 15-13 in her favour before taking full advantage of the many errors from Pui Yin to take six points in a row and pocket the first game 21-13.

In the second game, Saina kept her dominance and raced to a 6-0 lead before a sizzling cross court smash helped her to extend it to 11-5 in the break.

The 29-year-old Hong Kong shuttler tried her best to reduce the gap but still trailed 8-15 before losing track as Saina extended her lead to 18-10.

Saina then wasted no time in adding three more points to take the second game 21-13 and extend her head-to-head record against Pui Yin to 6-2.

In the final, Saina will take on unseeded Thailand teenager Pornpawee Chochuwong, who beat second seeded Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi 21-19, 20-22, 21-18 in the other semi-final.