Sindhu, Pranaav-Sikki enter India Open semis; Saina exits
New Delhi Feb 2 (IANS) India managed to grab only two spots in the semi-finals of the India Open BWF World Tour 500 with only women s singles star P.V. Sindhu and the mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N. Sikki Reddy crossing the quarter-finals stage here on Friday.
London Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal and the sixth seeded women s doubles pair of N. Sikki and Ashwini Ponnappa were among the six Indian quarter-finalists who bowed out in the last eight stage at the Siri Fort Sports Complex.
Defending champion Sindhu got the better of Spanish 8th seed Beatriz Corrales 21-12 19-21 21-11 in 54 minutes to set-up a clash against former World champion Ratchanok Intanon who got past Hong Kong s 7th seed Yip Pui Yin 21-11 21-11.
Hong Kong s sixth seed Cheung Ngan Yi registered an upset 21-12 21-19 victory over reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin of Spain.
In the semi-final Chenung will meet US fifth seed Beiwen Zhang who tamed two-time World Championship medallist Saina 21-10 21-13 in 32 minutes.
Pranaav-Sikki thrashed Chinese Han Chengkai and Cao Tong Wei 21-8 21-13 to storm into the semi-finals where they will meet Danish fifth seeds Mathias Christiansen and Christinna Pedersen.
The Dane pair won 21-17 21-11 over Indians Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa.
India s three men s singles player Parupalli Kashyap Sameer Verma and B. Sai Praneeth all lost on the day.
Kashyap fell to Chinese Qiao Bin who won 21-16 21-18 while Sameer lost to Malaysian Iskandar Zulkarnain 17-21 14-21. Praneeth was a 15-21 13-21 loser to Chinese Taipei s third seed Chou Tien Chen.
In the men s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy fought hard before bowing out to the Indonesian top-seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo with a 19-21 19-21 defeat.
India s sixth seeded women s doubles pair of sikki and Ashwini lost to Chinese Du Yue and Li Yinhui 17-21 21-23.
India s women s doubles seventh seeds Jakkampudi Meghana and Poorvisha S. Ram were conquered by Thai second seeds Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai who won 21-10 21-15 in 30 minutes.
--IANS
pur/vm
