Favourites Sindhu, Lakshya stroll into semifinals
Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen moved a step closer to clinching the women’s and men’s singles titles, respectively, registering straight-game wins to advance to the semifinals of the Syed Modi International Super 300 badminton tournament here on Friday.
Second seed Priyanshu Rajawat also registered a fine 21-13 21-8 win over Hong Kong’s Nguyen Hai Dang to enter the men’s singles semifinals.
Top seed Sindhu, a two-time champion at the event (2017, 2022), defeated China’s Dai Wang 21-15 21-17 in a 48-minute women’s singles quarterfinal. Lakshya, the 2021 World Championship bronze medallist, also dominated his match, beating compatriot Meiraba Luwang Maisnam 21-8 21-19 in a men’s singles quarterfinal.
“Today’s match was important. Even though she is a low-ranked player, it doesn’t matter. I have rectified my mistakes from yesterday, what went wrong I have not made those again today. I was aggressive from the beginning. Overall, I am happy with my game compared to yesterday,” Sindhu said.
Sindhu is ranked 18th in the world while Wang is 118th. “Yesterday, it was a rough patch at some point of time. But I think today I did not give her a chance. I am happy with the result and my game. I would like to finish the year on a very good note,” she said.
Sindhu will face fellow Indian Unnati Hooda in the semifinals, while Lakshya will meet Japan’s Shogo Ogawa. Priyanshu will cross swords with fourth seed Singaporean Jia Heng Jason Teh.
“It was a good match. Overall, happy with the way I started. The second game was tough at some moments but I am happy I could pull out the match,” Lakshya said.
Hooda, who won the Odisha Open title in 2022, earned a commanding 21-16 21-9 victory over USA’s Ishika Jaiswal in her quarterfinal match.
“I took time to adjust to the court conditions, but I stuck to my game plan and it became better with time,” said Hooda, who missed six months earlier this year due to injury.
“It is very different to make the transition from junior to international circuit, and I need to improve on a lot of aspects to do well in international events, which is extremely competitive.”
Top seeds Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa also made it to the last-four with a 21-12 17-21 21-16 win over fifth-seeded compatriots Priya Konjengbam and Shruti Mishra in the women’s doubles.
The second-seeded women’s doubles duo of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who have qualified for the season-ending World Tour Finals in China, also continued their fine run with a 21-8 21-15 win over sixth seeds Go Pei Kee and Teoh Mei Xing to enter the semifinals.
In the mixed doubles, fifth seeds Dhruv Kapila and Crasto defeated Malaysia’s Loo Bing Kun and Ho Lo Ee 21-16 21-13 to advance to the semifinals.
