Sindhu moves to semi-final as Prannoy, Praneeth falter at Macau Open

World No.12 PV Sindhu remains on course to win her third Macau open title as she defeated Chen Yufei of China in a hard-fought three-game win. The two-time World Championship bronze-medallist started the match in a positive fashion as she raced to 8-1 lead against the Chinese. Chen made a comeback into the match with six consecutive points to close the gap on the Indian. Sindhu, however, dominated the proceedings from then on and eventually won the first game 21-13 by claiming four points on the trot.

The 20-year old Indian, suffered a setback in the second game as the Chinese shuttler started dominating, to go into the break with an 11-7 lead. Chen continued her impressive performance after the break as she claimed the game 21-18 to stop the higher ranked Indian from claiming an easy victory.

With the match level at one game each, Sindhu changed gears in the third game to dominate the rallies. The Indian controlled the game from start to finish and marched into the semi-final by winning the third game 21-14. Sindhu will now take on Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in the semi-final tomorrow.

Meanwhile, it was a disappointing day for the male shuttlers at Macau, as seventh seed HS Prannoy and 15 seed B Sai Praneeth bowed out in the quarterfinals.

Prannoy was defeated by 16 seed Ihsan Maulana Mustofa of Indonesia 21-18, 19-21, 11-21 in a thrilling contest that lasted 59 minutes. The seventh seed squandered the advantage he got in the first game by losing the second and third game to the Indonesian.

Sai Praneeth suffered a defeat to Malaysia’s Goh Soon Huat in one hour and 10 minutes as he lost 16-21, 23-21, 13-21. The 15 seeded Indian, made a hard fought comeback into the match winning the second game 23-21, after losing the first game. But, the Malaysian won the third game in a relatively easy manner as Praneeth went down 13-21.