Yun becomes giant-slayer Sourabh's latest victim

Young Sourabh Verma continued his dream run at the Syed Modi Memorial India Open Grand Prix Badminton Championship, upsetting seventh seed Hu Yun of Hong Kong to make it to the men's singles semifinal on Friday. Sharad Deep reports.

Updated on: Dec 24, 2011, 24:47:51 IST

Hindustan Times | By Sharad Deep, Lucknow

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Young Sourabh Verma continued his dream run at the Syed Modi Memorial India Open Grand Prix Badminton Championship, upsetting seventh seed Hu Yun of Hong Kong to make it to the men's singles semifinal on Friday.

Sourabh, who had knocked out fourth seed Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia in the pre-quarters, won the 50-minute battle in straight games 23-21, 21-19 to set up a semifinal clash with Suppanyu Avihingsanon. The Thai outplayed Malaysian Misbun Ramdan Mohmed Misbun 21-15, 21-13.

Unlike Thursday, Sourabh had a tough outing as Yun attacked and used the pace of the shuttle. Even after trailing 1-6 in the first game, the lanky Indian didn't lose heart and won 23-21 after levelling the score at 14.

Sourabh raced to a 5-1 lead in the second but his rival bounced back to level the score. Yun took a handsome 14-9 lead and looked to be running away with the game before a lucky 'call' by the line judge allowed Sourabh a foothold, and he never looked back.

"I wanted to stick to my game-plan and that paid me rich dividends," said an elated Sourabh after his maiden entry in the semifinal of an international event.

Sourabh's young brother, Sameer, went down fighting to fifth seed Wing Ki Wong of Hong Kong 17-21, 17-21 in another quarterfinal.

Fourth seeded Jwala Gutta and V Diju won a battle of nerves against Hong Kong's Wong Wei Hong and Chau Hoi Wah to make it to the mixed doubles semifinals. They won 21-8, 21-16 in just 26 minutes.

Results (Indian): Men's singles: Sourabh Verma (Ind) bt Hu Yun (Hkg) 23-21, 21-19; Wing Ki Wong (Hkg) bt Sameer Verma (Ind) 21-12, 21-13; Women's doubles: Vivian Kah Mun Hoo-Khe-Wei Woon (Mas) bt Aparna Balan-Sikki Reddy N (Ind) 21-17, 21-15; Mixed doubles: V Diju-G Jwala (Ind) bt Wai Hong Wong-Hoi Wah Chau (Hkg) 21-8, 21-16.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sharad Deep
Sharad Deep is a versatile sports journalist, who loves writing on cricket and Olympic sport. He has played cricket at the university level and has been writing for Hindustan Times since 1997.

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