Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2010 Updates : Saina Nehwal in Final, one step away gold

History was made at the Siri Fort complex on Tuesday as Saina Nehwal became the first Indian woman to enter the final of the Commonwealth Games badminton event when she defeated Susan Egelstaff of Scotland 21- 10, 21- 17.

Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa also moved into the final with a 12- 21, 21- 13, 21- 11 win over Kate Wilson Smith and He Ting Tiang of Australia.

Saina stepped into the court with a lot of expectations on her. Despite her match being the last of the day, there was no dearth of ‘ Come on India and Come on Saina’ chants. When the Hyderabadi lost the first points because of unforced errors, the crowd fell silent. But then it proved to be a false alarm as Saina settled down and scored winner after winner.

She grabbed the opener 21- 10 in 12 minutes. The story was different in the second game with Susan matching Saina stroke for stroke.

To add to her woes, the Hyderabadi made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes at the net. The partisan crowd had a small fright when Susan took a 17- 16 lead. But once again, Saina steadied her game and reeled off five points to enter the final.

Saina will meet Malaysian second seed Wong Mew Chew in the final.“ It is great to be in the final of the Commonwealth Games.

After my disappointment at the Beijing Olympics (where she lost in the quarter- finals), this final of the CWG gives me a lot of pleasure and pride.” About Thursday’s final, Saina said that she would play her natural game.

“ I think it is going to be a 5- 50 affair. She (Wong) is a very tough player. I hope to be at my best against her,” she said. Indian coach Pullela Gopi Chand said that Saina was nearing her best.

A valiant Periapalli Kashyap bowed out to second seed Rajiv Ouseph 21- 19, 12- 21, 18- 21 in a 64 minute marathon. He will now meet Chetan in the bronze medal play off on Wednesday.

Kashyap was clearly the better player but it was Rajiv's greater experience which saw him through. In the first game, it was Kashyap who dominated courtesy his leaping smashes and tight net game. He went on to win it 21- 19, raising visions of an Indian in the final.

But Rajiv changed his tactics in the second game. Realising that he could not give Kashyap much room at the net, he pushed the shuttle back.

In the process, he took the vital net advantage away from Kashyap. The Englishman led throughout as he pocketed it 21- 12. In the decider, Kashyap led for the most part before Rajiv caught up with him at 16 all before a disputed line call went against the Indian and Rajiv prevailed 21- 18.

“ It was his experience that saw him through,” said Kashyap.

In the first semi- final, world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei proved too good for Chetan Anand. Chetan, a bronze medal winner in the last edition of the Games at Kuala Lumpur, found himself at the receiving end of a barrage of smashes and cross court drops from the Malaysian.

In both the games, Lee virtually toyed with Chetan and won in 20 minutes.