Japan Open: Indian duo Praanav Jerry Chopra and N. Sikki Reddy sails into mixed doubles semi-final

NewsBharati    22-Sep-2017
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Tokyo, September 22: Indian mixed doubles pair Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N. Sikki Reddy on Friday stormed into the semi-finals of Japan Open Superseries Badminton which is being held in Tokyo. Unfortunately, other shuttlers including Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy bowed out of the tournament.

 

Notably, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy registered a hard-fought win over Korea's Kim Ha Na and Seung Jae by 21-18, 9-21, 21-19 to enter the semis in a match that lasted for only 58 minutes. The Indian pair started the match confidently and jumped to a four-point lead early in the first game and took the break leading 11-7. Continuing the good run Indian won the first set comfortably by 21-18.


The Korean duo of Kim Ha Na and Seung Jae did the strong comeback in the second set and scored points aggressively. This led Korean pair to win the second set by 21-9 and took the match for a decider. But Pranaav and Sikki gritty performance in decider led their oppositions dished out and wrapped the game with 21-19 and entered into semis.



Earlier, in the day, Kidambi Srikanth bowed out of the tournament after losing 17-21, 17-21 to Denmark's Viktor Axelsen in the quarterfinal. The match lasted only for 40 minutes. While HS Prannoy lost 15-21, 14-21 to China's Shi Yuqi. The match lasted 45 minutes. Olympic silver medalist PV Sindhu lost to Nozomi Okuhara 21-18, 21-8 in 48 minutes. Saina, meanwhile, began well but ran out of steam against Carolina Marin. The reigning Olympic champion posted a clinical 21-16, 21-13 win in 43 minutes.