Saina Nehwal, Sameer Verma progress to semis of Syed Modi International

11/24/2018

Saina Nehwal and Sameer Verma secured a spot in the semi-finals of the ongoing Syed Modi International World Tour Super 300 tournament in Lucknow on Friday. Meanwhile, the likes of B Sai Praneeth, Parupalli Kashyap and Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka were knocked out of the competition.

Indian shuttlers, Saina Nehwal and Sameer Verma, made their way to the semi-finals of the ongoing Syed Modi International World Tour Super 300 tournament being held in Lucknow. Verma, who is the defending champion this year, played out a gruelling 21-18, 16-21, 21-11 win over China’s Zhou Zeqi and is slated to take on Indonesian Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo in the semis.

Meanwhile, Saina beat former National champion Rituparna Das 21-19, 21-14 to set up a meeting with Indonesia’s Ruselli Hartawan in the semi-finals of the women’s singles category. Also, women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa & N. Sikki Reddy defeated Tania Oktaviani Kusumah and Vania Arianti Sukoco of Indonesia by a scoreline of 19-21, 21-8, 21-18 to progress to the next round on Friday night.

However, there was disappointment in store for Indian shuttlers, B Sai Praneeth, Parupalli Kashyap and Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka, who were all knocked out from their respective singles category in contrasting defeats. Kashyap went down 21-16, 21-19 to eighth-seeded Thai Sitthikom Thammasin, while Praneeth’s outing in the tournament ended with a 21-10, 19-21, 21-14 loss to sixth-seeded Chinese Lu Guangzu. Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka bowed out with a 21-9, 19-21, 21-12 loss to former Olympic champion Li Xuerui of China in the women’s singles event.

Other results (quarterfinals): Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty bt Ou Xuanyi & Ren Xiangyu (Chn) 15-21, 21-19, 21-17.

Mixed doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Ashwini Ponnappa bt Ronald & Annisa Saufika 20-22, 21-17, 21-11.