Teenage badminton prodigy Saina Nehwal continued with her sensational form to topple Ai Goto of Japan and reach the women's singles final of the Philippines Open at Pasig City, Manila, on Saturday.
Sixteen-year-old Saina, an unseeded player in the tournament, beat Goto 21-19 20-22 21-14 to become the first Indian woman to reach the final in a four-star event.
After shocking the top seed and world No. 4 Xu Huaiwen of Germany 12-21 21-17 21-17 in the quarterfinals yesterday, Saina put up another sparkling show to outclass Goto.
Seventh seed Julia Xian Pei Wong of Malaysia would face Saina's heat in the final on Sunday.
"It is a great feeling. I am very happy to make it to the final of such a big tournament. I never thought I would reach the final but I just kept playing my natural game and the rest happened," an elated Saina said after her win over phone from Manila.
The Hyderabadi shuttler, coached by former All England Badminton champion Pullela Gopichand, has been in stupendous form in the tournament. She packed off world No. 31 S. Mudukesan of Malaysia in the opener and then posted a victory over Sachiyo Imai of Japan before upsetting top seed Huaiwen.
"Beating the top seed gave me a lot of confidence and after taking one game off Xu, I thought I have a chance to win," Saina said.
The 87-ranked player would now see her ranking go up to several notches because of the series of wins against top-ranked opponents.
"I had worked very hard before this tournament and just wanted to keep winning without bothering too much about ranking. If I keep on winning, my ranking will improve," she said.
Gopichand termed Saina's feat as a remarkable achievement.
"There is no doubt that she had the potential. But to reach the final beating top players is a remarkable achievement," Gopichand said.
"Her win will serve as an inspiration to youngsters in the team and give them confidence to take on the top players in world without any fear," he added.
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