New Delhi: Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu came up with contrasting victories in the first two singles to put the Indian women's team 2-0 ahead of Japan in their maiden semifinal of Uber Cup Badminton tournament here today.
Olympic bronze medallist Saina gave India a positive start when she produced a dominating performance to get across world number 12 Minatsu Mitani in 41 minute match.
World championship bronze winner, Sindhu then displayed her brilliance with yet another edge-of-the seat victory over world No 13 Sayaka Takahashi 19-21 21-18 26-24 in an energy-sapping one hour and 12 minutes match at the Siri Fort stadium.
Saina dominated the proceedings right from the start and lead 11-6 at the interval. things didn't change much after the break as Saina kept engaging her rival in rallies and waited for Mitani to commit mistakes to eventually pocket the game with a smart dribble at the net.
In the second game, Mitani managed to open up a small 6-3 lead but Saina soon surged ahead with a couple of smashes to lead 9-8 and had her nose ahead at the break at 11-8.
