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Kidambi Srikanth (© IANS)

Syed Modi International: Sourabh, Rituparna Enter Semi-Finals; Srikanth Bows Out

It was curtains for Kidambi Srikanth as he lost his men's singles quarterfinals contest but Sourabh Verma and Rituparna Das kept Indian challenge alive.

It was curtains for Kidambi Srikanth as he lost his men’s singles quarterfinals contest but Sourabh Verma and Rituparna Das kept Indian challenge alive by progressing to the last-four in the ongoing Syed Modi International Badminton Championships 2019 in Lucknow on Friday.

The third-seed Srikanth has been struggling for form this year since his runners-up finish at the India Open earlier this year. He went down fighting against world No. 1 Son Wan Ho 18-21, 19-21, his seventh defeat to the Korean in 11 meetings.

But Sourabh won his men’s singles quarter-final match, beating Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-19, 21-16, who is a three-time world junior champion and the reigning Asian junior champion.

Sourabh will next face Korean Heo Kwang Hee in the semi-finals on Saturday.

In the women’s singles, Rituparna and compatriot Shruti Mundana put up a thrilling show, a contest that went down the wire. Rituparna lost a closely contested opening game 24-26 before finding momentum to draw level in the second game with a 21-10 scoreline in her favour. The decider was also a close affair and Rituparna prevailed, pocketing the game 21-19.

Rituparna, winner of the 2016 and 2018 Polish International, will now square off against Thailand’s Phittayaporn Chaiwan for a plane in the final.

It was a disappointing day for Indian shuttlers in women’s doubles though. Kuhoo Garg and Anoushka Parikh lost 15-21, 9-21 to Hong Kong duo of NG Wing Yung and Yeung Nga Ting.

The young doubles pair of Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker were outclassed by Linda Efler and Isabel Herttrich of Germany. They bowed out losing 7-21, 16-21 in another quarterfinal match.

 

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