To deafening cheers from an adoring crowd, Saina Nehwal Tuesday sped into the Commonwealth Games badminton women’s finals with a straight-game win over Scotland’s Susan Egelstaff.
Ms. Nehwal, the first seeded player and India’s hopeful for a gold medal, won 21-10, 21-17. She meets Malaysia’s Mew Choo Wong, seeded second in the tournament.
The two will play Thursday morning.
In a hard-fought match, Indian women’s doubles pair Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa beat the Australian pair Tian He Tang and Kate Wilson-Smith to enter the finals.
To cheers of “India Jeetega,” the hometown favorites came back from a first game loss to win the match 12-21, 21-13, 21-11.
Earlier in the evening, India’s fleet-footed Parupalli Kashyap lost to England’s Rajiv Ouseph in a fiercely contested match. Mr. Kashyap won the first game speedily only to lose the second. He had a lead in the third game that Mr. Ouseph ate away at to win 19-21, 21-12, 21-18.
Chetan Anand, India’s other semi-finalist, lost in two quick games to the world’s top-ranked man, Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei.
Mr. Anand plays Mr. Kashyap for the bronze medal Wednesday evening.