Badminton Asia C'ships: Saina, Prannoy eye final berths

Ace Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy will look to book their place in the finals of the Badminton Asia Championships when they play their respective last-four clashes here on Saturday.

Yesterday, London Olympic bronze-medallist showcased a rich vein of form as she thrashed unseeded Korean Lee Jang Mi 21-15, 21-13 in a one-sided quarter-final clash of the women's singles event that lasted 43 minutes.

Nehwal, who clinched a gold medal in the recently-concluded 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games, will now lock horns with World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, world No 10 Prannoy eked out a hard-fought 18-2, 23-21, 21-12 win over second-seeded Son Wan Ho of Korea in the last-eight men's singles clash that lasted just half an hour.

With the win, Prannoy has now set up a semi-final clash against third seed Chen Long of China.

Earlier, Rio Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu and top-seeded Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the tournament after losing their respective quarter-final clashes.