Chinese former number one Li Na beat Russian Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-4 to make it to the final of the Birmingham grasscourt event on Saturday.

Li, the fourth seed of the event, will play Slovakian 13th seed Magdalena Rybarikova, who beat India's Sania Mirza 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, in Sunday's final.

Sharapova, the champion here in 2004 and 2005, is still testing her fitness after being sidelined for 10 months due to a shoulder injury and she showed signs of a quick revival by reaching the French Open quarterfinals.

But the unseeded Russian was plagued by errors on Saturday, suffering six breaks of serve in her 90-minute defeat.

(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2009)