Saina Nehwal vs Lindaweni Fanetri, BWF World Championships, SF, Live

Saina Nehwal qualified for the semifinals of the BWF World Championships for the first time in her career, assuring herself of at least a bronze medal. The Indian ace will face off against Lindaweni Fanetri on Saturday. Catch live updates here:

Saina Nehwal in action at the BWF World Championships

Saina Nehwal, seeded second, defeated sixth seed Wang Yihan of China 21-15, 19-21, 21-19 to make the semifinals of the BWF World Championships for the first time in her career. Saina will clash with local girl Lindaweni Fanetri in the semis today. Lindaweni created a flutter earlier on Friday when she stunned No. 4 seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei 14-21, 22-10, 21-12.

Lindaweni is the first Indonesian to reach the women’s singles semifinal at the world championships since the great Susi Susanti in 1995. “It’s beyond everybody’s expectation, since the women’s singles team wasn’t given a specific target,” Lindaweni said after her win. “I [just] think if I win the match, [it gives me another opportunity] to play better in the next match.”

“I am very lucky. It was like a final. It was very special,” said Saina after ekeing out a thrilling win over former World No. 1 Wang Yihan.

“It is a first in many ways. So I will want to thank my coaches, my families, parents and my hard work. It is a god gift for me,” she added.

Saina said she had a tough draw as she was playing two quality players — Sayaka Takahashi and Wang Yihan — in two days at the

“The only thing that I was thinking last two days is that Wang Yihan and me have been playing so many matches and the record is 2-9 and she also won the Chinese Taipei Open, so I was thinking my quarter was really tough as I also had to play Sayaka Takahashi in the second round. She is also a good attacking player and then Wang Yihan, so both the matches were tough for me,” she said.