Malaysia Masters: Kidambi Srikanth the odd one out as PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy enter semis

Kuala Lumpur, May 26

Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy advanced to the women’s and men’s singles semifinals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 with hard-fought wins here today.

Sixth seed Sindhu beat lower-ranked Yi Man Zhang of China 21-1 13-21 22-20, while Prannoy earned a 25-23 18-21 21-13 win over Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in the quarterfinals.

For world No. 13 Sindhu, it was a revenge of sorts for her Round-of-32 loss to Zhang in the All England Open in March. She had also beaten the Chinese in the same tournament last year. Sindhu faces seventh seed and world No. 9 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia in the semifinals tomorrow. Tunjung upset second seed Yi Zhi Wang of China 21-18 22-20.

Tunjung has been in fine form recently, defeating Sindhu in the Spain Masters final in straight games in April. However, the Indian goes into the semifinals with a 7-1 head-to-head advantage over Tunjung.

World No. 9 Prannoy faces qualifier Christian Adinata of Indonesia, who beat Kidambi Srikanth 16-21 21-16 21-11 in another quarterfinal.

Prannoy has never played against the 21-year-old Adinata, who began playing at the senior level just last year. — PTI

Malaysian duo win marathon 211-shot rally at Masters

Kuala Lumpur: Thinaah Muralitharan threw her racquet in the air and Pearly Tan got down on all fours to catch her breath after the women’s doubles duo survived a 211-shot rally at the Malaysia Masters today. The Malaysian pair were leading Japan’s Rena Miyaura and Ayako Sakuramoto in the final set of their last-16 encounter when the rally began. More than three minutes later, after a jaw-dropping showcase of athleticism and perseverance, Tan produced a well-disguised drop shot which Sakuramoto could not reach to seal the point, bringing an incredulous crowd to their feet. “Winning the rally felt like winning the match. I also thought that we won after surviving the rally,” said Thinaah. “I was too excited that it was finally over because it was exhausting and we just wanted it to end fast. When it was over, I really needed a break and I threw the racket as collecting it from the ground gave me some time to rest.” At the Korea Open in April last year, another women’s doubles match produced a 195-shot rally, which the Badminton World Federation said at the time was a record breaker. Reuters