New Delhi: Indian challenge at the Singapore Open came to a crushing halt on Saturday after Saina Nehwal went down fighting in the semi-finals.

National champion Saina put up a spirited challenge against fifth seed Mi Zhou of China before going down 21-17, 19-21, 11-21 in a match that lasted 55 minutes.

Saina was off to a brilliant start pocketing the first game but Zhou got the better of the Indian shuttler in the next two games to advance to the finals of the Super Series tournament.

Zhou will face second-seeded Tine Rasmussen of Denmark, who thumped fourth seed Mew Choo Wong of Malaysia in straight games in the other semi-final.