GOLD COAST: India's badminton queens Saina Nehwal and P.V.Sindhu sailed into the semi-finals of the women's singles competition by registering comfortable wins in their respective matches at the 21st Commonwealth Games here on Friday.
London Olympics bronze medallist Saina hardly broke into a sweat barring a couple of poor shots towards the end to clinch a straight games 21-8, 21-13 win over Canada's Rachel Honderich while Rio Olympics silver medallist Sindhu also notched up a comfortable 21-14, 21-17 win over another Canadian Brittney Tam.
In the first quarter-final Saina, the World No.12, started dominating right from the start, easily pocketing the opening game 21-8 in a mere 14 minutes.
In the second game, the former World No.1 cruised ahead with a 11-3 lead at the break before the World No.47 gained a few points to reduce the margin but eventually the Indian brought all her experience into play to clinch the contest.
Saina will next face World No.18 Kirsty Gilmour of Scotland in the semi-final on Saturday.
Gilmour progressed to the last four at the cost of another Indian Ruthvika Shivani Gadde, who withdrew midway into their quarter-final match with an injury.
In the third quarter-final, World No.3 Sindhu started strongly against Brittney before the Canadian managed to pull back a few points, but the Indian used all her experience to pocket the first game in 18 minutes.
In the second game, Sindhu continued her dominance right through the first half before the World No.48 once again came back to gain a few points. But eventually the Indian prevailed in the battle of nerves to clinch the rubber.