Sindhu, Prannoy, Srikanth reach French Open semis

Paris: Star Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and H.S. Prannoy set up an all-Indian men’s singles semi-final in the $325,000 French Open Superseries after winning their respective quarter-final matches even as second seed P.V. Sindhu reached her maiden women’s singles semi-finals here on Friday.

Prannoy consumed 47 minutes in ousting South Korea’s Jeon Hyeok Jin 21-16, 21-16 while Srikanth bounced back from a game down to beat Chinese No. 4 seed, Shi Yuqi 8-21, 21-19, 21-9 in a match that lasted exactly an hour.

Rio Olympics silver medallist Sindhu outclassed Chinese rising star Chen Yufei in straight games 21-14, 21-14 in a match that lasted for 42 minutes. This is Sindhu’s maiden last-four appearance in the tournament.

In the men’s singles match, Prannoy hardly lost any sweat in the first game and held a comfortable lead throughout.

In the second game, Hyeok Jin upped his game and caused the Indian some problems. However, Prannoy was quick to overcome the difficult period and clinch the tie without any hiccups.

The other men’s singles quarter-final witnessed a dramatic comeback from the eighth-seeded Srikanth, who rose four spots to the fourth position after clinching the Denmark Open last week.

Srikanth failed to find the momentum in the first game and was easily overpowered by the Chinese shuttler.

The Indian opened up with a good lead in the second game before the breather but the Chinese clawed his way back to go neck and neck until the Guntur-born shuttler used all his experience to take the final two points.

Srikanth, however, totally dominated the proceedings in the decider to seal the match in his favor.

In women’s singles, Sindhu dominated the match throughout, except for a brief period in the second game, against her world No.10 Chinese rival.

It also turned out to be a sweet revenge for the Indian star, who now enjoys a 3-2 head-to-head record against Chen.

In the semi-finals on Saturday, Sindhu will face the winner of the match between third seed Sung Ju Hyun of South Korea and fifth seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.

Akane had defeated another Indian Saina Nehwal in the second round.

In men’s doubles, the young Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out after losing 5-21, 21-17, 17-21 to world’s top-ranked combo of Denmark’s Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen in the quarter-finals.
(IANS)