<p>Kidambi Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap carried Indian hopes into the men’s singles semifinals of Indian Open badminton tournament here.</p>.<p>In an engrossing quarterfinal, 2015 champion and third seed Srikanth edged Sai Praneeth 21-23, 21-11, 21-19 in an encounter that lasted over an hour. </p>.<p>In the other last eight clash on Friday, Kashyap entered his first semifinals of a top-tier event in four years. He defeated World No 32 Wang Tzu Wei 21-16, 21-11 and will face second-seeded Viktor Axelsen, who ended the run of HS Prannoy with a 21-10, 21-16 win.</p>.<p>In the women’s singles, PV Sindhu overcame a few errors to defeat eighth-seeded Mia Blichfeldt 21-19, 22-20 and entered the semifinals. Sindhu next plays third-seeded He Bingjao of China, who took out defending champion Beiwen Zhang 21-18, 26-24.</p>.<p>In front of a handsome gathering, Kashyap opened an 11-8 lead. Wang caught up with him at 16-16 but Kashyap broke away with some stellar game from the backcourt to take the opening game.</p>.<p>In the second game, Kashyap fought off initial resistance from Wang to move ahead 11-8 at the interval. On resumption, he pressed the accelerator, by mixing his strokes, to surge ahead 18-11. A smash and drop took Kashyap to the threshold of victory and he closed the match when Wang hit long.</p>.<p>In the all India affair, Sai took a close opening game and opened up 7-1 lead in the second. But Srikanth fought back to move 15-11 ahead. He then reeled off six points to even out things.</p>.<p>It was neck and neck in the decider, with the two players locked at 19-19. Srikanth’s return landed right on the backline to give him a match point, and he made no mistake converting it.</p>.<p>“It could have been anyone’s game,” said Srikanth who next plays China’s Huang Yuxiang. Huang defeated seventh-seeded Khosit Phetpradab 21-16, 21-15.</p>.<p>In the men’s doubles, sixth seeds Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy won an all-Indian quarter-final clash with Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Shivam Sharma 21-10, 21-12. The former national champions are the last Indian pair standing at this prestigious tournament after the 10-21, 18-21 defeat of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy by top seeds Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu in women’s doubles. </p>.<p class="byline"><span class="bold">Results (Quarterfinals): (Indians unless mentioned): </span></p>.<p><span class="bold">Men’s singles: Huang Yuxiang (Chn) bt 7-Khosit Phetpradab (Tha) 21-16, 21-15; Parupalli Kashyap bt Wang Tzu Wei (Tpe) 21-16, 21-11; 3-Kidambi Srikanth bt Sai Praneeth 21-23, 21-11, 21-19; 2-Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt HS Prannoy 21-10, 21-16.</span></p>.<p><span class="bold">Women’s singles:</span> 7-Han Yue (Chn) bt Cheung Ngan Yi (Hkg) 22-20, 21-14; 4-Intanon Ratchanok (Tha) bt Ongbamrungphan Busanan (Tha) 21-18, 21-19; 3-He Bingjiao (Chn) bt 6-Beiwen Zhang (USA) 21-18, 26-24; 2-PV Sindhu bt 8-Mia Blichfeldt (Den) 21-19, 22-20.</p>
<p>Kidambi Srikanth and Parupalli Kashyap carried Indian hopes into the men’s singles semifinals of Indian Open badminton tournament here.</p>.<p>In an engrossing quarterfinal, 2015 champion and third seed Srikanth edged Sai Praneeth 21-23, 21-11, 21-19 in an encounter that lasted over an hour. </p>.<p>In the other last eight clash on Friday, Kashyap entered his first semifinals of a top-tier event in four years. He defeated World No 32 Wang Tzu Wei 21-16, 21-11 and will face second-seeded Viktor Axelsen, who ended the run of HS Prannoy with a 21-10, 21-16 win.</p>.<p>In the women’s singles, PV Sindhu overcame a few errors to defeat eighth-seeded Mia Blichfeldt 21-19, 22-20 and entered the semifinals. Sindhu next plays third-seeded He Bingjao of China, who took out defending champion Beiwen Zhang 21-18, 26-24.</p>.<p>In front of a handsome gathering, Kashyap opened an 11-8 lead. Wang caught up with him at 16-16 but Kashyap broke away with some stellar game from the backcourt to take the opening game.</p>.<p>In the second game, Kashyap fought off initial resistance from Wang to move ahead 11-8 at the interval. On resumption, he pressed the accelerator, by mixing his strokes, to surge ahead 18-11. A smash and drop took Kashyap to the threshold of victory and he closed the match when Wang hit long.</p>.<p>In the all India affair, Sai took a close opening game and opened up 7-1 lead in the second. But Srikanth fought back to move 15-11 ahead. He then reeled off six points to even out things.</p>.<p>It was neck and neck in the decider, with the two players locked at 19-19. Srikanth’s return landed right on the backline to give him a match point, and he made no mistake converting it.</p>.<p>“It could have been anyone’s game,” said Srikanth who next plays China’s Huang Yuxiang. Huang defeated seventh-seeded Khosit Phetpradab 21-16, 21-15.</p>.<p>In the men’s doubles, sixth seeds Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy won an all-Indian quarter-final clash with Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Shivam Sharma 21-10, 21-12. The former national champions are the last Indian pair standing at this prestigious tournament after the 10-21, 18-21 defeat of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy by top seeds Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu in women’s doubles. </p>.<p class="byline"><span class="bold">Results (Quarterfinals): (Indians unless mentioned): </span></p>.<p><span class="bold">Men’s singles: Huang Yuxiang (Chn) bt 7-Khosit Phetpradab (Tha) 21-16, 21-15; Parupalli Kashyap bt Wang Tzu Wei (Tpe) 21-16, 21-11; 3-Kidambi Srikanth bt Sai Praneeth 21-23, 21-11, 21-19; 2-Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt HS Prannoy 21-10, 21-16.</span></p>.<p><span class="bold">Women’s singles:</span> 7-Han Yue (Chn) bt Cheung Ngan Yi (Hkg) 22-20, 21-14; 4-Intanon Ratchanok (Tha) bt Ongbamrungphan Busanan (Tha) 21-18, 21-19; 3-He Bingjiao (Chn) bt 6-Beiwen Zhang (USA) 21-18, 26-24; 2-PV Sindhu bt 8-Mia Blichfeldt (Den) 21-19, 22-20.</p>