Saina meets Sindhu in final

Guwahati, February 15 

PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal won their respective semifinal matches to set up a mouth-watering women’s singles summit showdown at the 83rd Yonex-Sunrise Senior National Championship here today.

In a repeat of the last edition’s final at Nagpur, the two stalwarts will look to outdo each other and write another chapter in their on-field rivalry. While Sindhu overcame Assam’s promising 19-year-old Ashmita Chaliha 21-10 22-20 in the first semifinal, Saina got the better of Nagpur-based qualifier Vaishnavi Bhale, who was a part of India’s Uber Cup squad last year, 21-15 21-14 to storm into the finals.

Saina has had the last laugh against Sindhu in the last two encounters at the Nagpur Nationals in 2017 and the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games gold-medal match last year.

While Saina has won the title in 2006, 2007 and 2018, Sindhu clinched the trophy twice, in 2011 and 2013.

“It will be just another match and I don’t think it will help me for All England. I will just look to focus and give my best,” Sindhu said about the final.

Sourabh in final

Two-time former champion Sourabh Varma, 26, too sealed his spot in the men’s singles final after beating Mumbai’s Kaushal Dharmamer 21-14 21-17 in 44 minutes.

Earlier in the day, former champions Saina, Parupalli Kashyap and Sourabh advanced to the semifinals with contrasting wins.

The three-time former champion Saina hardly broke a sweat to get the better of former India No. 1 Neha Pandit of Mumbai. She won 21-10 21-10 in a lop-sided quarterfinal contest.

Kashyap, a 2012 winner, prevailed 21-18 21-16 over Bodhit Joshi, who had reached the finals of Iceland International last year.

Both Saina and Kashyap had played their pre-quarterfinal match on Thursday night at the newly-laid wooden court of the TRP Indoor Stadium after refusing to play at the Assam Badminton Academy courts due to “uneven” surface.

Former world No. 30 Verma, who had clinched the Super 100 titles at the Russia Open and the Dutch Open last year, registered a hard-fought 21-11 21-23 21-18 win over B Sai Praneeth.

Verma grabbed seven straight points from 14-17 down in the decider against the former Singapore Open champion Sai Praneeth in the quarterfinals.

Rohan-Kuhoo advance 

In the other semifinal matches of the day, Rohan Kapoor and Kuhoo Garg lived up to their reputation as they needed only 32 minutes to dispatch Vighnesh Devlekar and Harika V 21-15 21-16 in the mixed doubles semifinals.

They will take on the unseeded pair of Manu Attri and Maneesha K, who continued their rampage with a fine 21-18 21-17 victory over Shlok Ramchandran and Mithula UK.

In women’s doubles, top seeds Meghana Jakkampudi and Poorvisha S Ram continued their quest for the title with a strong 21-13 21-16 win over Kuhoo Garg and Anoushka Parikh. They will take on the unseeded Shikha Gautam and Ashwini Bhat K in the summit clash after the latter edged Aparna Balan and Sruthi KP 21-19 24-22.

Men’s doubles second seeds Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Chirag Shetty beat Arun George and Sanyam Shukla 21-17 21-18 to secure a place in the final. — PTI