Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwik Rankireddy in action against Yong Hee and Jia Woing of Singapore during the mixed team badminton semifinal tie in Gold Coast on Sunday. AFPGold Coast: World No.2 Kidambi Srikanth and London Olympics medallist Saina Nehwal guided India to the final of the mixed team badminton event, beating Singapore 3-1 in the semifinal at the 21st Commonwealth Games here on Sunday.
World No.12 Saina's win against Jia Min Yeo sealed India's win after the men's doubles duo of Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty shockingly lost the third match of the contest.
Earlier, Srikanth outclassed Kean Yew Loh in the men's singles tie after the mixed doubles duo of Satwik Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa gave India a winning start.
India got to a 1-0 lead after the mixed doubles duo of Satwik and Ashwini overcame a stiff challenge from Yong Kai Terry Hee and Jia Ying Crystal Wong to win 22-20, 21-18 in a 42-minute contest.
Srikanth, the top seed doubled India's lead by going past Kean 21-17, 21-14 in the men's singles match that lasted for 37 minutes at Court 1 of the Carrara Sports Arena 2.
India, however, suffered a blow in the third tie of the contest, as the men's doubles pair of Satwik and Chirag, went down 21-17, 9-21, 12-21 to Yong Kai Terry Hee and Danny Bawa Chrisnanta.
With the team 2-1 up, all eyes were on experienced Saina to propel India to the final and the Hyderabadi responded in style by thrashing Jia 21-8, 21-15 in a 38-minute contest.
India will take on the winners of the second semifinal between England and Malaysia in the gold medal match on Monday.
