Sourabh Verma enters finals while brother Sameer crashes out

Indian shuttler Sourabh Verma is just one step away from clinching his consecutive title after he notched up a straight-game victory over Denmark's Anders Antonsen to reach the men's singes final of Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament

Sourabh Verma

Saarbrucken (Germany): Indian shuttler Sourabh Verma is just one step away from clinching his consecutive title after he notched up a straight-game victory over Denmark's Anders Antonsen to reach the men's singes final of Bitburger Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament here yesterday.

The 23-year-old Indian defeated 15th seed Antonsen 21-15, 21-18 in a 39-minute clash in the USD 120,000 tournament.

World No. 57 Sourabh, who reached the finals in his last three tournaments in Belgium, Poland and Chinese Taipei, will take on fourth seeded and World No. 16 Shi Yuqi in the summit clash.

The Chinese had beaten the Indian in a grueling three-game match early this year at the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships in January.

Sourabh's younger brother and national champion Sameer Verma, seeded 12th, lost 18-21, 15-21 to Shi Yuqi in another semi-final match.

Sourabh dished out a gritty performance as he fought back from 3-6 and 8-10 down to grab 14-12 lead. Antonsen clawed his way back immediately but the Indian pocketed the first game.

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