12 December,2015 10:19 AM IST | | Sundari Iyer
Top seed Jing Yi Tee of Malaysia battled past eight seed Gadde Ruthvika Shivani in three absorbing games 21-18, 18-21, 21-19 to enter the semi-finals of the Tata Open India International Challenge at the Cricket Club of India’s badminton courts
Jing Yi Tee in action against Gadde Ruthvika Shivani
Top seed Jing Yi Tee of Malaysia battled past eight seed Gadde Ruthvika Shivani in three absorbing games 21-18, 18-21, 21-19 to enter the semi-finals of the Tata Open India International Challenge at the Cricket Club of India's badminton courts on Friday.
Jing Yi Tee in action against Gadde Ruthvika Shivani yesterday. Pic/Sameer Markande
This was Tee's second win over the Indian shuttler, but she experienced several tense moments in the 58-minute encounter. World No 37 Tee didn't have a great start in the first game as Shivani had a 7-5 lead. However, soon the Malaysian made it 10-8 in her favour. Later, Tee hit some crisp smashes to take a 19-15 lead before wrapping up the first game 21-18.
Despite having an 11-8 lead in the second game, Shivani committed a few unforced errors which saw Tee catching up with the Indian at 18-18. The Indian surged ahead with three straight points to take it to the decider.
In the third game, Tee was trailing 9-11, before she took a 15-13 lead. 18-year-old Shivani soon clawed back to level at 19-19, but the Hyderabadi couldn't control her nerves and Tee won the match.
In the other quarter-final, third seed Saili Rane took 50 minutes to beat Erlina Kurnianti of Indonesia 21-19, 21-16 to enter the semi-finals. Rane will face second seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand today. Chochuwong beat seventh seed Tanvi Lad 21-12, 21-13.
