NZ Open: Shuttler Praneeth in semis, Sameer bows out

Ace Indian shuttler B. Sai Praneeth stormed into the semi-finals of the New Zealand Open Badminton Championship after scoring a convincing straight games win over Niluka Karunaratne of Sri Lanka in their last-eight clash here on Friday.

The third-seed showcased a rich vein of form as he eased past Karunaratne 21-7, 21-19 in a one-sided quarter-final clash that lasted just 28 minutes.

He will now square off against second-seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia for a place in the summit showdown.

Meanwhile, it was curtains down for fifth-seed Sameer Verma as he slumped to straight-games defeat at the hands of top-seed Lin Dan of China.

Verma suffered a 19-21, 9-21 defeat against his Chinese opponent in a last-eight encounter that lasted 40 minutes.

In the men's doubles event, the Indian duo of Manu Attri and B.Sumeeth Reddy also bowed out of the tournament after suffering a 10-21, 15-21 loss against the Thailand team of Bodin Isara and Nipitphon Phuangphuapet.