It was a day of contrasts at the Syed Modi International India Masters badminton tournament here on Saturday.
Playing on adjacent courts, top seeds and title favourites Saina Nehwal and K. Srikanth registered contrasting wins in their respective semifinals. While defending champion Saina scored a facile 21-10, 21-16 victory over Thai Nichaon Jindapon, Srikanth had to dig deep to overcome compatriot H.S. Prannoy 12-21, 21-12, 21-14 in over an hour.
Prannoy was the better player in the first game, keeping the shuttle in play and not allowing Srikanth to settle. The latter, as usual, was unable to find his rhythm and struggled to hold serve for long. It was only towards the end of the second game that he began playing with confidence.
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His bullet-like smashes brooked no response from Prannoy. Prannoy kept getting his positioning right but failed to control the length of his strokes. The final few points of the decider were a blur as Srikanth’s fast and furious smashes left Prannoy stranded.
The other two semifinals too presented a contrasting picture. P.V. Sindhu had an off day losing to Carolina Marin of Spain 21-13, 21-13 in just 39 minutes.
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P. Kashyap, meanwhile, fought back self-doubt and a game deficit to upset World No. 10 Dane Viktor Axelsen in the longest match of the day.
Kashyap, racing to an 18-16 lead in the first game, made a series of unforced errors. The second followed a similar script. Kashyap stayed ahead, but wasted three game points before holding his nerve for a 22-20 win. Kashyap dominated the third for a 21-7 victory with a changed gameplan, dropping the shuttle behind Axelsen.
The results (semifinals): Men: Singles: 3-Parupalli Kashyap bt 2-Viktor Axelsen (Den) 18-21, 22-20, 21-7; 1-K. Srikanth bt 4-H.S. Prannoy 12-21, 21-12, 21-14.
Doubles: 4-Vladimir Ivanov & Ivan Sozonov (Rus) bt 5-Manu Attri & B. Sumeeth Reddy 21-12, 21-18; 1-Mathias Boe & Carsten Mogensen (Den) bt 6-Pranaav Chopra & Akshay Dewalkar 21-10, 21-13.
Women: Singles: 1-Saina Nehwal bt 4-Nichaon Jindapon (Tha) 21-10, 21-16; 2-Carolina Marin (Esp) bt 3-P.V. Sindhu 21-13, 21-13.
Doubles: 1-Vivian Kah Mun Hoo & Khe Wei Woon (Mas) bt 3-Puttita Supajirakul & Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) 12-21, 21-16, 21-13; 4-Amelia Alicia Anscelly & Fie Cho Soong (Mas) bt 2-G. Jwala & Ashwini Ponnappa 21-16, 19-21, 21-13.
Mixed doubles: 1-Riky Widianto & Puspita Richi Dili (Ina) bt 4-Peng Soon Chan & Pei Jing Lai (Mas) 21-16, 21-12; Manu Attri & K. Maneesha bt 3-Evgenij Dremin & Evgenia Dimova (Rus) 24-22, 21-19.