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Indonesia Masters: Kidambi Srikanth outclasses Viktor Axelsen-slayer HS Prannoy to reach semi-final

Indonesia Masters 2021: Kidambi Srikanth made light work of his compatriot HS Prannoy, who had defeated reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen, in the quarter-final at the Super 750 in Bali.

Indonesia Masters: Srikanth downs Prannoy to ease into semi-finals (AFP Photo)

HIGHLIGHTS

  • HS Prannoy lost in straight games a day after he defeated Viktor Axelsen
  • Kidambi Srikanth reaches the semi-final of his 2nd successive tournament
  • Srikanth will look to go all the way and end his title drought

Former World No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth continued his impressive run on the tour to reach the semi-final of Indonesia Masters Super 750 badminton tournament on Friday. Srikanth, who reached the semi-final of Hylo Open earlier this month, defeated HS Prannoy in an all-Indian men’s singles quarter-final in Bali.

Srikanth made short work of compatriot HS Prannoy 21-7 21-18, a day after the latter stunned reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in the Round of 16 match.

In the men’s event, former world No. 1 Srikanth was at his vintage best and gave away just 7 points in a lop-sided first game.

The second game was more evenly matched as Prannoy, who claimed an upset win over Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Victor Axelsen earlier, made a strong recovery.

Prannoy started the proceedings aggressively, racing to a 5-2 lead but Srikanth came from behind to snatch the lead at the mid-game interval.

Having gained momentum, the former world No. 1 then extended his lead to 15-12 and despite Prannoy levelling the proceedings once again, Srikanth sealed the match to reach his second consecutive semifinals.

He will now take on either Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn or Denmark’s Anders Antonsen, who is seeded third, in the semifinals.

Sindhu to face Akane Yamaguchi in the semi-final

Sindhu, who has got relatively easy opponents until now, has a tough match ahead as she will face top seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.

Although Yamaguchi is currently ranked third in the world and is the top seed, Sindhu has a superior 12-7 head-to-head record against the Japanese shuttler and has won both the meetings between the two this year.

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