From correspondents in Delhi, India, 10:33 PM IST

India's Saina Nehwal stormed into the semifinal of the Yonex Open Chinese Taipei badminton tournament after battling past Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand Friday.

Saina, seeded second, got the better of Buranaprasertsuk 21-19, 18-21, 21-16 in a thrilling quarterfinal.

The world no.14 Indian will now face Indonesian Pia Zebadiah Bernadet in the semifinal. Bernadet beat Saina's Olympic tormentor and third seed Maria Kristin Yulianti 21-16, 21-19.

The other semifinal will be fought between Li Ya Lydia Cheah of Malaysia and Taipei's Yi Ju Chiu.

In the men's section, Parupali Kashyap went down to Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto

21-14, 21-14 in the prequarterfinals.

Kashyap had earlier shocked second seed Malaysian Sairul Amar Ayob in the second round.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)