Badminton: Sindhu, Srikanth advance to semis of Indonesia Masters

Bali, Nov 19 (IANS) Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and former world No 1 Kidambi Srikanth stormed into the semi-final of the 2021 Indonesia Masters badminton tournament after winning their respective singles matches, here on Friday.Reigning world champion Sindhu outclassed Turkey's Neslihan Yigit 21-13, 21-10 in a 35-minute encounter in the last eight.The 26-year-old will now take on top seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the semi-final.This is Sindhu's second-consecutive semi-final appearance on the BWF World Tour after the French Open last month. She had lost to Sayaka Takahashi of Japan on that occasion.Meanwhile, Srikanth emerged on top in an all-Indian clash as he beat 2014 Indonesia Masters champion HS Prannoy 21-7, 21-18 in 38 minutes. Prannoy had caused a major upset in the previous round, having beaten Tokyo 2020 gold-medallist Viktor Axelsen from a game down.Srikanth will now face the winner of the match between Thai youngster Kunlavut Vitidsarn and reigning World Tour Finals champion Anders Antonsen of Denmark in the semi-finals.This is also Srikanth's second semi-final appearance in a row on the BWF World Tour after the Hylo Open in Germany, where he fell to Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia.
--IANSavn/bsk

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