Syed Modi GPG: Srikanth, doubles pairs enter semis; Kashyap knocked out

After defeating Malaysia Masters finalist Iskandar Zainuddin in the quarter-final yesterday, top seed Kidambi Srikanth once again produced a good performance to oust another Malaysian Goh Soon Huat to enter the semi-final. The Indian looked in full flow in the first game taking it 21-17, but lost his concentration in the second after taking an 18-10 lead. The Malaysian shuttler mounted an unbelievable comeback by scoring 11 consecutive points to win the second game 21-18 to leave Srikanth perplexed.

The third and final game proved to be an edge-of-the-seat thriller with both players going neck to neck throughout the game. The lead exchanged multiple times through the game with both stating their claims for a semi-final spot. Both players got two chances to finish the game, but Goh Soon Huat wasted his opportunities to allow Srikanth a way back into the game and the Indian took it with both hands to finish the game 24-22. The top seed will next face 11th seed Boonsak Ponsana in the semi-final on Saturday.

However, the other Indians in the fray in Men’s Singles had a bad day with third seed Parupalli Kashyap and youngster Harsheel Dani tasting defeats in the quarters. Kashyap was defeated by unseeded Chinese shuttler Huang Yuxiang 16-21, 21-18, 15-21, while Harsheel was defeated by another Chinese player Shi Yuqi in straight games (14-21, 11-21).

In the Women’s Doubles, sixth seeds Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also confirmed their place in the semi-final defeating Puttita Supajirakul and Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand 23-21, 21-17.

In the Men’s Doubles, the unseeded Indian pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar, who stunned the fifth-seeded pair of Ricky Karanda Suwardi and Angga Pratama from Indonesia yesterday, created another upset by ousting third-seeded Danish pair Mads Pieler Kolding and Mads Conrad-Petersen 22-20 11-21 23-21 in a close fight to enter the semis.