India Open Superseries: Defending champion Saina Nehwal loses to China's Li Xuerui in semis

New Delhi: Defending champion Saina Nehwal lost her semi-final match against China's Li Xuerui in three grueling games to crash out of India Open Superseries on Sarurday in Delhi.

The Indian ace lost the match 22-20 17-21 21-19 in one hour and 12 minutes. After losing the first game, world second seeded Indian came back strongly to win the second game.

Nehwal, then, failed to convert her good start in the deciding game to lose the match. She led most of the game, until 18-18. But from 19-19, the third seeded Chinese turned the table to beat the home favourite.

Xuerui will play Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, who defeated South Korean Bae Yeon-Ju in an one-sided women's singles semi-final match earlier today.

The fourth seeded Thai won the match 21-8, 21-11 in less than forty minutes.