<p>Saina Nehwal scripted a hard-fought straight-game win over former world champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan to enter the women's singles semifinals but a fighting Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the USD 350,000 Malaysia Masters here on Friday.</p>.<p>Seventh-seeded Saina, who had a 8-4 head-to-head record against Okuhara before Friday, fought back from 9-15 and 14-18 down in the two games to extend her dominance over the second-seeded Japanese with a 21-18, 23-21 win in a 48-minute quarterfinal at the Axiata Arena.</p>.<p>"Again a great match with @nozomi_o11 .. nice to b on the winning side ..21-18 , 23-21 #quarterfinals #malaysiamasterssuper500," tweeted Saina after the match.</p>.<p>The 28-year-old from Hyderabad, who had won the title in 2017 and was a runner-up in the 2011 edition, will face a tough test next when she faces three-time world champion Carolina Marin of Spain on Saturday.</p>.<p>Saina has defeated Marin five times and has lost to the Spaniard as many times in the last 10 meetings.</p>.<p>However, Srikanth squandered a one-game advantage to go down 23-21, 16-21, 17-21 to fourth seed Korean Son Wan Ho in the men's singles quarterfinals that lasted an hour and 12 minutes.</p>.<p>The women's singles match started on an even keel as both Saina and Okuhara fought hard, moving together till 9-9. Okuhara registered six straight points to create a huge gap but Saina showed her mettle as she slowly erased the deficit and grabbed a 17-16 lead at one stage.</p>.<p>Okuhara made it 17-17 before Saina closed out the opening game by grabbing the remaining points.</p>.<p>The Indian was 4-2 up early on in the second game but Okuhara jumped to a 8-5 lead before Saina wrested a 11-9 advantage at the break.</p>.<p>After the interval, Saina led till 14-12 but Okuhara reeled off six points to take a comfortable 18-14 lead. But Saina again slowly started dominating the rallies and clawed her way back to 19-19.</p>.<p>Okuhara then squandered two game points before Saina converted the first match point that came her way to secure the semifinal berth.</p>
<p>Saina Nehwal scripted a hard-fought straight-game win over former world champion Nozomi Okuhara of Japan to enter the women's singles semifinals but a fighting Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the USD 350,000 Malaysia Masters here on Friday.</p>.<p>Seventh-seeded Saina, who had a 8-4 head-to-head record against Okuhara before Friday, fought back from 9-15 and 14-18 down in the two games to extend her dominance over the second-seeded Japanese with a 21-18, 23-21 win in a 48-minute quarterfinal at the Axiata Arena.</p>.<p>"Again a great match with @nozomi_o11 .. nice to b on the winning side ..21-18 , 23-21 #quarterfinals #malaysiamasterssuper500," tweeted Saina after the match.</p>.<p>The 28-year-old from Hyderabad, who had won the title in 2017 and was a runner-up in the 2011 edition, will face a tough test next when she faces three-time world champion Carolina Marin of Spain on Saturday.</p>.<p>Saina has defeated Marin five times and has lost to the Spaniard as many times in the last 10 meetings.</p>.<p>However, Srikanth squandered a one-game advantage to go down 23-21, 16-21, 17-21 to fourth seed Korean Son Wan Ho in the men's singles quarterfinals that lasted an hour and 12 minutes.</p>.<p>The women's singles match started on an even keel as both Saina and Okuhara fought hard, moving together till 9-9. Okuhara registered six straight points to create a huge gap but Saina showed her mettle as she slowly erased the deficit and grabbed a 17-16 lead at one stage.</p>.<p>Okuhara made it 17-17 before Saina closed out the opening game by grabbing the remaining points.</p>.<p>The Indian was 4-2 up early on in the second game but Okuhara jumped to a 8-5 lead before Saina wrested a 11-9 advantage at the break.</p>.<p>After the interval, Saina led till 14-12 but Okuhara reeled off six points to take a comfortable 18-14 lead. But Saina again slowly started dominating the rallies and clawed her way back to 19-19.</p>.<p>Okuhara then squandered two game points before Saina converted the first match point that came her way to secure the semifinal berth.</p>