Sai Praneeth defeats Sri Lankan opponent to seal a berth in semi finals of New Zealand Open

Auckland, May 5: Star Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth registered a comfortable victory over his Sri Lankan opponent Niluka Karunaratne 21-7, 21-9 to seal a berth in the semifinals of the New Zealand Open 2018.

 

Notably, B Sai Praneeth took only 28 minutes to dismiss Sri Lanka’s World No. 129 Niluka Karunaratne out of the tournament. Praneeth, who is World No. 18 leads 1-0 against Karunaratne in a head-to-head clash. The 25-year-old Indian will next take on the second seed and World No. 14 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia.

On the other side, another Indian shuttler Sameer Verma went down to two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan by 19-21, 9-21. After a hard-fought defeat by Lin Dan, Sameer was also crashed out of the tournament. Lin Dan will be up against qualifier Kwang Hee Heo of Korea in the other semifinal.

Even though the Sameer in the first game drew level by 19-19 but Dan showed his vast experience to close out the opener at 21-19 with a delicate drop. However, in the second game, Sameer was no match for his highly accomplished opponent as he finished 9-21.

Meanwhile, fifth-seeded Indian men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy were also crashed out after losing in the quarterfinals. The Indian duo was defeated in straight games 10-21, 15-21 by fourth seeds Bodin Isara and Nipitphon Phuangphuapet of Thailand.