NZ Open: Shuttlers Praneeth, Sameer eye semi-final berths

Indian shuttlers B.Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma will aim to book their place in the semi-finals of New Zealand Open Badminton Championship when they play their respective last-eight clash here on Friday.

Yesterday, Praneeth had made it to the quarter-finals of the championship after easing past Daren Liew of Malaysia 21-18, 21-17 in a one-sided second-round match of the men's singles event that lasted 46 minutes.

The 25-year-old will now lock horns with Niluka Karunaratne of Sri Lanka for a place in last-four.

In another quarter-final clash, fifth-seed Verma will square off against top-seed Lin Dan.

Verma had earlier thrashed Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong 21-17, 21-19 in the second round to cement his spot in the quarter-finals of the men's singles event.

Meanwhile, the Indian pair of Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy will also play their quarter-final clash of the men's doubles event. They will take on Thailand duo of Bodin Isara and Nipitphon Phuangphuapet.

Yesterday, Ajay Jayram and Lakshay Sen knocked out of the championship after slumping to defeats in their respective men's singles matches.