Birmingham: Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal will take on eighth seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand on Saturday in a bid to achieve her dream of winning the prestigious All England Championship. The only Indians to win the title are Prakash Padukone (1980) and Pullela Gopichand (2001) but such is Saina's form that the elusive title may just come the 22-year-old's way.
Saina advanced to the semi-finals with a thrilling three-game victory over former world No. 1 Shixian Wang of China in the women's singles competition in Birmingham on Friday, thus equaling her exploits at the 2010 edition of the USD 400,000 Super Series event.
Saina is india's only hope at the All England Championship following world No. 9 Parupalli Kashyap's exit on Friday. Saina's knee, which has troubled her since she won the Olympic bronze in London, is holding up well as the Indian has exhibited excellent court coverage in the earlier rounds. Having dispatched of Wang, the next couple days present Saina her best chance to add an All England title to her CV.
The match starts at 17:30IST.
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