Top seeds Saina Nehwal and Anup Sridhar, both from Petroleum, overcame stiff challenges from their opponents en route to the finals of women's and men's categories in the first Pramod Mahajan Badminton tournament at the Siri Fort Sports Complex here Saturday.

Coming from a game down, Saina had to battle hard against third seed Aditi Mutatkar of Maharashtra to register a 18-21, 21-13, 21-12 win, while Sridhar prevailed over fellow Bangalorean and fifth seed Arvind Bhatt 21-19, 21-16.

In the finals, Saina will face unseeded Sayali Gokhale of Air India, who defeated Railway's Dhanya Nair 18-21, 21-13, 21-12 in the other semi-final. In the men's title clash, Sridhar will face seventh seed J.B.S. Vidyadhar, who beat second seed P. Kashyap 22-20, 16-21, 21-15.

In a pulsating first semi-final in the women's section, national champion Saina started the match on a scratchy note losing her first game in the tournament. However, she came back strongly in the second and third to book a berth in the final, though her opponent looked very promising.

The contest was so tough that even the top ranked women' s player had to admit that Aditi gave her a run for her money.

'It wasn't an easy match. Aditi played very well. I was little relaxed in the first set. That proved costly, but eventually I won, which matters most,' Saina said after the match.

Though Aditi lost the match, there was no trace of disappointment on her face.

'After the first set win, I was playing in zones in the second and third. But one thing I must say I was better than her in game and stroke wise today. She edged me out in experience, but the good thing is that I have improved,' a confident Aditi said after the match.

'When I play Saina it brings out the best in me because she pushes and even I push her. But at the end of the day she played better badminton.

'This tournament is a good build up for this month's nationals,' Aditi said.

Meanwhile, in the men's section, national champion Sridhar too had some scary moments against Bhatt, who seemed in a mood to register the biggest upset of the tournament with his powerful cross court smashes in the initial phases of the first set.

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