Sindhu storms into semi-finals

The world No. 23 and second seed in the tournament was hardly tested in her 21-13, 21-17 win over Angguni, the runners-up at the recently-concluded Tata Open in Mumbai.

However, as many as three Indian challengers fell by the wayside in the men's singles quarterfinal clashes here.

The day's proceedings began on the back foot for the hosts as India's K Srikanth lost 21-16, 21-12 to the 14th seed Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand in just 35 minutes. Thereafter, the script remained unchanged in the round of eight as hopes continued to be dashed for the local fans.

The shuttlers from Indonesia with a much higher BWF rankings, proved unassailable in front of the Indian challengers in both skill and mind games, though full marks to the latter for putting up stiff resistance till the last minute.

 

Third seed Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia beat India's RMV Gurusaidutt 19-21, 22-20, 21-16 to enter the semis while fifth seed Alamsyah Yunus overcame HS Prannoy 18-21, 21-10, 21-12 in a match which lasted for more than an hour. However, it wasn't a smooth sailing for Sugiarto, who earned a yellow card from the referee, for wasting time.

Later, after the match, Gurusaidutt said, "He (Tommy) was taking too much time in the break which was hindering my game and the flow."

In the women's singles, the third seed from Thailand Sapsiree Taerattanachai had an easy outing against the fifth seed Indonesian Aprilla Yuswandari, winning 21-16, 21-11 in 40 minutes to sail into the semifinal. More