Saina crashes out of Japan Open semis

India's Saina Nehwal was handed a shock 19-21, 10-21 defeat by Germany's Juliane Schenk in the women' singles semi-finals of the Japan Open Super Series badminton here Saturday.

After a keenly fought first game, the fourth-seeded Indian fizzled out in the second to lose to Schenk, seeded eighth, in 39 minutes.

Saina still leads 5-3 head-to-head against the German. Schenk plays top seed Yihan Wang in the final Sunday.