Srikanth enters semis; Saina, Sindhu bow out

Sydney, June 23

Newly-crowned Indonesia Open winner Kidambi Srikanth continued his rampaging run to advance to the men's singles semifinals but it was curtains for PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal at the Australian Super Series here today.

In the all-Indian quarterfinal duel between Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth, the former came out on top with a fighting 25-23 21-17 win over his countryman in a 43-minute clash at the Sydney Olympic park. It was the second time that the two Indians were facing each other. They had squared off at the finals of the Singapore Open where Praneeth had the last laugh.

Srikanth, who had edged out world no.1 Son Wan Ho in semifinals en route his title triumph at the Indonesia Open last week, will face fourth seed and All England finalist Shi Yuqi of China in the last-four round. World No. 11 Srikanth has beaten Yuqi, winner of the 2016 French Super Series, at the Singapore Open this year.

However, there was disappointment in store for India in the women's singles as Rio Olympics silver-medallist Sindhu and defending champion Saina squandered opportunities galore to go down in their thrilling three-game matches.

Sindhu failed to get the better of world No.1 and top seed Tai Tzu Ying of the Chinese Taipei for the seventh time in her career, while Saina fought for an hour and 19 minutes before losing to last year's finalist Sun Yu.

Sindhu squandered a game's advantage to go down 21-10 20 -22 16-21 in a contest that lasted exactly an hour, while Saina went down 17-21 21-10 17-21.

Earlier, in the match between two friends, it was Praneeth who took an early lead, moving to a 4-1 advantage. Despite Srikanth grabbing a slender 11-10 lead at the break, the Thailand Open champion moved to a 16-13 lead. Srikanth then reeled off five straight points to turn the tables and moved to a 20-17 lead. Praneeth grabbed four straight points to hold a game's advantage but the 2014 India Open champion ensured he had the last laugh.

In the second game, Praneeth again opened up a 4-1 lead but Srikanth once again surpassed him to grab a 11-9 advantage. Praneeth narrowed the gap to 12-13, but Srikanth zoomed ahead to seal the match.

“The first game was very close, I lost four game points. That's been the pattern every time I've lost to top players, I've missed my opportunities,” said Srikanth.

“I have to avoid that. We know each other's game pretty well. You just have to be patient. He's a tricky player, he has variety. You have to be steady and take those special shots and retrieve them.”

Talking about his fine run of form, the Indian, who entered his third straight Superseries semifinal, said: “It's going great so far, not really thinking too much. I just want to play well, because I missed six-seven tournaments last year, I just want to play as many games as possible.”   — PTI