Uber Cup Badminton: China Smash India in Semis After Saina, Sindhu Lose

China flattened India in the Uber Cup badminton semifinals at Kunshan on Friday. Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu lost their singles matches while Jwala Gutta and Sikki Reddy went down without a fight in their doubles fixture.

The 3-0 lead in the best-of-five tie was enough for China to seal a berth in the final. India will have to settle with a bronze, the second time they have won it in the history of the women's team tournament. Top seed China will await the winners of Korea versus Japan in the title match.

Saina went down to Li Xuerui after a battle of attrition. She lost the first game 21-15, won the second 21-12 but the Chinese champion, who won the London Olympics gold in 2012, won the third 21-17. The match lasted over an hour.

Wang Shixian doubled China's lead by winning the second singles. Sindhu lost the first game 21-13 and looked good to win the second but frittered a handy lead to go down 23-21. The match lasted 50 minutes.

China sealed the match by winning the first women's doubles with consummate ease. Jwala Gutta and Sikki Reddy lasted all of 25 minutes as the Chinese pair of Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei won 21-6, 21-6.

Saina Nehwal Loses a Thrilling Opener

Saina played out of her skin in a thrilling match that lasted an hour and four minutes. It was her eighth successive loss to Li. The last time Saina had beaten the Olympic champion was in 2012 Indonesia Open.

Saina blew a 10-6 lead in the opening game before entering the break with a slender 11-10 lead, which Li erased and eventually pocketed the game.

In the second game, Saina erased a 6-2 deficit early on to break off at 8-8 and then reeled off nine straight points to bounce back in style.

In the decider, the duo fought tooth and nail before the Chinese marched ahead from 13-13 to shut the door on Saina.

PV Sindhu's fourth straight defeat to Wang

Coming into the match with a 4-5 head-to-head record against Wang, Sindhu went full throttle before bowing out in a 50-minute match. It was her fourth consecutive loss against the World No. 6.

Sindhu was no match for Wang in the opening game as the Chinese zoomed ahead from 3-3 and never looked back.

In the second game, Sindhu had a healthy 18-8 advantage but Wang fought back and caught up with the Indian at 20-20. The Chinese had the last laugh in a thrilling finish.

(With inputs from PTI)