Commonwealth Games 2018:India Storm Into Mixed Team Badminton Final

Australia, Apr 08: World No 2 Kidambi Srikanth and London Olympics medallist Saina Nehwal guided India to the final of the mixed team badminton event as they beat Singapore 3-1 in the semi-final at the 21st Commonwealth Games on Sunday. Saina s win against Jia Min Yeo sealed India s win after the men s doubles duo of Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty suffered a shock defeat in the third match of the contest.Earlier, Srikanth outclassed Kean Yew Loh in the men s singles tie after the mixed doubles duo of Satwik Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa gave India a winning start.India got to a 1-0 lead after the mixed doubles duo of Satwik and Ashwini overcame a stiff challenge from Yong Kai Terry Hee and Jia Ying Crystal Wong to win 22-20, 21-18 in a 42-minute contest.Srikanth, the top seed doubled India s lead by going past Kean 21-17, 21-14 in the men s singles match that lasted for 37 minutes at Court 1 of the Carrara Sports Arena 2.India, however, received a scare in the third tie of the contest, as the men s doubles pair of Satwik and Chirag, went down 21-17, 9-21, 12-21 to the duo of Yong Kai Terry Hee and Danny Bawa Chrisnanta.After taking the first game 21-17, the Indian pair struggled in the second game 9-21 and it was for the first time that the Indians were made to sweat it out in the decider.The Singaporean duo led 11-7 midway into the third game and went on to stifle the Indians by pocketing it comfortably at the end.With the team 2-1 up, all eyes were on experienced Saina to propel India to the final and the Hyderabadi responded in style by thrashing Jia 21-8, 21-15 in a 38-minute contest. Saina, who did not have to play her part in the 3-0 quarter-final win against Mauritius on Saturday, jumped to a 11-3 lead midway into the first game before pocketing it comfortably 21-8.In the second, the Singaporean shuttler managed to give a fight but Saina used all her experience to negate the chances of an upset.India will now take on the winner of the second semi-final between England and Malaysia, in the gold medal match on Monday.