Two-time champion Saina Nehwal and H S Prannoy progressed to the semi-final of the Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament on Friday after tough encounters in the quarters. However, P V Sindhu crashed out of the tournament in the quarters after losing to He Bingjiao in straight games.

Saina Nehwal celebrated her birthday in style with a straight-sets win, while PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy also booked their places in the quarters of the Swiss Open on Thursday. But it was H S Prannoy who produced the performance of the day, as he ousted the higher-ranked Rajiv Ouseph 21-13, 21-18.

Two-time champion Saina Nehwal and P V Sindhu entered the pre-quarters of the Swiss Open GPG badminton tournament in Basel on Wednesday. Top seed Saina saw off Germany’s Karin Schnaase 21-7 21-15, while Sindhu beat Ireland’s Chole Magee 21-19 21-10 in the opening round of the tournament.

The Indian contingent made a bright start to their Swiss Open campaign on Tuesday, as Ajay Jayaram, HS Prannoy, Sameer Verma and Sai Praneeth won their respective first round matches with relative ease. Sai Praneeth had the toughest encounter as Mathias Bonny nearly handed over a shock exit to him.