Jakarta, June 25 (IANS) Saina Nehwal remained on course for three titles in three weeks after a fighting 17-21, 21-11, 21-16 victory over Russian Ella Diehl to move into the semi-finals of the Indonesian Open Super Series badminton here Friday.
Defending champion Saina, who is the top seed in the tournament, recovered in time after losing the first game to the eighth-seeded Russian. She will now meet fourth-seeded Eriko Hirose of Japan in the semi-finals Saturday.
Hirose got the better of Jie Yao of the Netherlands in another gruelleing encounter to prevail 21-19, 10-21, 22-20.
In the other semifinal, Japanese Sayaka Sato will face qualifier Ana Rovita of Indonesia.
Saina, who shot up three places Thursday to become world no.3, has won the Indian Open Grand Prix and Singapore Open Super Series in the last two weeks.
