Ruthvika, Siril, Pranaav-Sikki enter semifinals of Russia Open

Indian shuttlers Ruthvika Shivani Gadde and Siril Verma notched up contrasting victories to reach the semifinals of the women's and men's singles events at the Russian Open Grand Prix here today.
Fourth seed Ruthvika edged out local hope Elena Komendrovskaja 13-21 21-10 21-17 in a 52-minute battle. The 18-year-old, who clinched the gold medal at SAF Games, will next take on another local shuttler Ksenia Polikarpova, seeded second.
In men's singles, Siril Verma, who had reached the finals of the World Junior Championships in November last year, outclassed Malaysia's Zulhelmi Zulkiffli, seeded eighth, 21-12 21-18 in a match that lasted 36 minutes.

Verma, who burst onto the scene after wining the Junior Asian Under-15 Championships and Badminton Youth Asia Championships in 2013, will next take on Russia's Anatoliy Yartsev at Sport Hall Olympic.
Mixed doubles duo of N Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra, who clinched the Brazil Open Grand Prix title last month, also entered the semifinals after beating Russian pair of Aleksandr Vasilkin and Kristina Virvich 21-10 21-8.
The second seeded Indian combo will face Russian pair of Anatoliy Yartsev and Evgeniya Kosetskaya next.
However, third seed Tanvi Lad could not get across Evgeniya Kosetskaya, losing 16-21 19-21 to the Russian in another women's singles match.

Another Indian pair of Jakkampudi Meghana and Poorvisha S Ram too failed to cross the final eight as they suffered a narrow 14-21 21-13 18-21 loss against local combo of Tatjana Bibik and Elena Komendrovskaja.