Saina marches into Australian Open semis

Sydney, June 27 (IANS) India's Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal marched into the women's singles semi-finals of the $750,000 Australian Badminton Open Super Series at the States Sports Centre here Friday.

The sixth seeded Hyderabadi needed only 47 minutes in the quarter-final to oust Japan's Eriko Hirose 21-18, 21-9 to level her career head-to-head to four-all.

In the next match, the World No.8 Saina will take on the winner of the match between China's top seed Shixian Wang and Chinese Taipei's fifth seed Tzu Ying Tai.

Saina's compatriot and eighth seed P.V. Sindhu will play her last-eight clash later in the day against Spain's Carolina Marin.