India's Saina Nehwal stormed into the elimination round of the badminton Super Series finals with a straight-game victory over Sayaka Sato of Japan in the women's singles in Liuzhou, China on Thursday.
World No. 4 Saina beat Sayaka 21-16, 21-13 in a 36-minute match to keep her record 2-0 so far.
The 21-year-old was beaten by the Japanese early this year at the Korean Open, but Saina was quick to avenge her loss in the Indonesian Open Super Series in June and, after Thursday's victory, holds a 2-1 record.
Saina will now face World No. 3 Xin Wang, who has always enjoyed the upper hand against the Indian, defeating her four times. Friday's encounter will decide who will top Group B.
Saina was highly successful last year, winning a hat-trick of Super Series titles. — PTI
