Srikanth, Jwala/Ashwin, Akshay/Pranaav enter semi-finals of the India GPG
TOP SEED Kidambi Srikanth and doubles specialists Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa along with Akshay Dewalkar/Pranaav Jerry Chopra marched into the semi-finals of the Syed Modi International Badminton Championship held at the BBD Indoor Stadium in Lucknow on Friday.
Defending champion and fourth seed Parupalli Kashyap was ousted by Chinese Huang Yuxiang 16-21, 21-18, 15-21. After Sindhu bowing out of the tournament, this was another upset among the Indian shuttlers. Now Srikanth is the only Indian shuttler in the men's singles category.
Srikanth prevailed a tight three game match to claim a spot in the semis beating Goh Soon Huat of Malaysia 21-17, 18-21, 24-22. He will next face 11th seed Boonsak Ponsana from Thailand and the head-to-head count favours the Indian shuttler 2-1. On the other hand the young lad Harsheel Dani couldn't continue his winning spell as he went down against Shi Yuqi of China in straight games 14-21, 11-21.
The women's doubles pair Jwala /Ashwini had an easy outing 23-21, 21-17 while the men's doubles pair Akshay/Pranaav had to fight till the last minute to win the match against third seed Mads Conrad-Petersen/Mads Pieler Kolding (Denmark) 22-20, 11-21, 23-21.
The women's duo will be up against second seed Jung Kyung Eun/Shin Seung Chan (Korea).
