24 June,2017 01:16 PM IST | Sydney | PTI
Newly-crowned Indonesia Open winner Kidambi Srikanth continued his rampaging run to advance to the men's singles semi-finals but it was curtains for PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal at the Australian Super Series here yesterday
Kidambi Srikanth
Newly-crowned Indonesia Open winner Kidambi Srikanth continued his rampaging run to advance to the men's singles semi-finals but it was curtains for PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal at the Australian Super Series here yesterday.
In the all-Indian quarter-final duel between Srikanth and B Sai Praneeth, it was the former who came out on top with a fighting 25-23, 21-17 win over his countryman in a 43-minute clash at the Sydney Olympic park.
It was the second time that the two Indians were facing each other. They had squared off at the finals of Singapore Open where Praneeth had the last laugh.
Srikanth, who had edged out World No.1 Son Wan Ho in semi-finals en route his title triumph at the Indonesia Open last week, will face fourth seed and All England finalist Yuqi Shi of China in the last four round.
World No.11 Srikanth had beaten Shi Yuqi, winner of the 2016 French Super Series, at the Singapore Open this year.
"Not really thinking too much. I just want to play well, because I missed six-seven tournaments last year," said Srikanth.
However, disappointment was in store for India in the women's singles as Rio Olympics silver-medallist Sindhu and defending champion Saina squandered opportunities galore to go down in thrilling three-game matches.
Sindhu failed to get the better of world No.1 Tai Tzu Ying of the Chinese Taipei for the seventh time in her career, while Saina fought for an hour and 19 minutes before losing to Sun Yu. Sindhu squandered a game's advantage to go down 21-10, 20-22, 16-21 in a contest that lasted exactly an hour, while Saina went down 17-21, 21-10, 17-21 to Sun.
