India Open 2018: Sindhu and Sikki-Pranaav into semi-finals, Saina bowed out

While, mixed doubles pair of N Sikki Reddy and Pranaav Jerry Chopra, who had reached semi-finals at the Japan Open last year, entered the final four again at the tournament after defeating the Chinese Han Chengkai and Cao Tong Wei with 21-8, 21-13.

Pranaav said, “We are not as physically strong as Asians, so after coach Kim Tan Her joined, he told us we are not supposed to play the Asian style of game and rather should focus on playing the European style of play and it has helped us.”

The eighth seeded Indian duo will face fifth seeded Danish combo of Mathias Christiansen and Christinna Pedersen, who beat Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa 21-17, 21-11 in another match.

It turned out to be the dismal day for the Indian men’s singles as Parupalli Kashyap, B Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma buried with straight losses in their respective quarter finals matces.

Weary Kashyap couldn’t keep up the stride against the Chinese Qiao Bin with a 16-21, 18-21 loss, while eighth seeded Praneeth, the Singapore Open 2017 winner, went down with 15-21, 13-21 against the third seeded Taiwanese Chou Tien Chen.

Later, in the 49-minute encounter Sameer Verma gave up the match after the tough fight against Iskandar Zulkarnain, who had knocked out Kidambi Srikanth, with a 17-21, 14-21 scoreline.

However, the biggest upset of the day was produced by Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi, who knocked out Olympic champion Carolina Marin, who had reached the finals of the Indian Open last year, 21-12, 21-19 in a 48-minute clash.

Sindhu cruised into the second game couldn’t save herself for the straight games win, as Corrales led the game with 19-11 at one moment. Later, Sindhu somehow grabbed eight of nine straight points to make 19-21, before Corrales lucky net cord stretched the match to the decider.

In the third game, Sindhu proved her worth with her lead by the break with 11-5 advantage. Corrales tried to make the comeback, but the Indian just went down the wire with her tricky returns to perplex the Spaniard. Later, with her jump smash, Sindhu won 10 match points. Corrales won a long rally but the Spaniard hit long to hand over the match to Sindhu.

“I came back in the second game but there was a lucky net chord or else it could have been straight game. Overall it was a good game. At 16-9 in the second game nothing was going for me. After that when I was getting a few points I was feeling confident but luck was on her side,” said Sindhu.

"In the third game, I was confident right from the start and I maintained the lead and finished it comfortably."

About her match on Saturday against Ratchanok, Sindhu said, “Definitely, it is not going to be easy. She is a tricky player. Last time I played her at Hong Kong. I have to give my best to win.”

In another women’s singles  match, Saina Nehwal was completely out of form in the opening game with her row of unforced which made her to trail by 0-6 and by 5-11 by the half time. Zhang continued to dominate the game and grabbed the opener with a ease when the Indian netted.

Saina, somehow gained some stride and equalised the American at 9-9, before Zhang smashed over Saina’s forehand at 11-9 to gain point. After the break, Zhang again looked menacing as Saina struggled and eventually bowed out after hitting long.