Saina crashes out of All England Super Series

London:

Ace Indian Saina Nehwal suffered a straight-game defeat against Tine Rasmussen of Denmark in the semifinals of the women's singles to bow out of the All England Super Series badminton championship on Saturday.

Saina became the first Indian woman to reach the semifinals of the prestigious tournament but her journey was cut short by Rasmussen of Denmark, who beat her 21-19 21-17 in a 37-minute battle.

Down 1-5 in the first game, Saina picked up four straight points to make it 5-5 and then moved neck and neck till 19-19 but Rusmessen had the last laugh as she sealed the game with two straight points.

In the second game, the world number seven Indian had raced to narrow lead of 3-1 but the Dane soon surged ahead at 9-4 and held the fort as Saina's game crumbled.

Earlier, the Hyderabadi had beaten German Juliane 21-8, 21-14 in just 27 minutes to reach the semi-final at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.

Saina had also beaten Judith Meulendijks of the Netherlands and Korean Seung Hee Bae in the first two rounds of the tournament.