Crowned the world number one, Saina Nehwal today celebrated her numero uno status with a straight-game demolition of Japanese Yui Hashimoto, while Kidambi Srikanth too saw off Xue Song of China to reach their maiden finals at the Yonex Sunrise India Super Series here.
The Olympic bronze medallist, Saina became the world number one even before she took the court for the semifinals after her closest competitor Carolina Marin of Spain lost in the other last-four match against Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.
The girl from Hyderabad thrashed Hashimoto 21-15, 21-11 in a match that lasted for 43 minutes to set up a title clash with former world champion Intanon. Saina has a 5-3 head-to-head record against the Thai player. But Saina had beaten her the last time they played at the Uber Cup here.
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World No. 4 Srikanth, who had clinched the Swiss Open earlier this month, also made his second successive finals after prevailing over Chinese qualifier Xue Song 21-16 21-13 in a 42-minute match. He will take on Viktor Axelsen in the summit clash which will be a rematch of the Swiss Open final.
Talking about her number one ranking, Saina said: "It is a dream come true. I can't even believe that I have become the world number one. I guess till the time I see my name there myself I won't be able to believe it. It has been a long journey," Saina said.
"I want to thank Vimal Sir, my parents for the success. Vimal sir had told me that I will be number one by May. I can't still believe it."
News started to float about Saina reaching the number one ranking after her closest rival for the top spot Marin lost to Intanon.
Once on the court, Saina played like a champion as she dominated the long rallies with her repertoire of strokes and pushed the Japanese to commit mistakes.
Egged op by a vociferous weekend crowd, Saina led 11-8 at the break.
The Indian continued her dominating run after the interval, using her drops, deep returns and accurate smashes to lead 18-12.
Saina lost a few points due to service fault and a couple of miscued shots before grabbing the first game courtesy two unforced errors by her opponent.
