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Sindhu, Srikanth in Korea Open semis
Busanan no match for twice Olympic medallist; Srikanth made to sweat.
In contrasting fashion, PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the semi-finals of the $360,000 Korea Open at Palma Stadium in Suncheon on Friday.
Sindhu, the women’s singles third seed and world No. 7, eased past Thai seventh seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan 21-10, 21-16 in 43 minutes to extend her head-to-head to 17 wins in 18 matches against the world No 11.
The Thai began the year winning the India Open in New Delhi and has had a strong season till date, having only lost four matches. Three of those defeats were against Sindhu, at the German Open first round and Swiss Open final before this.
Sindhu used Busanan’s lifts to the back court, waited for the shuttle to drop and hammered smashes with precision. Busanan, now trained by former coach Kim Ji-hyun, tried to trick Sindhu with her wristy game but the twice Olympic medallist was ready, not allowing the Thai any room and winning 42 of the 68 points played. Sindhu ended the contest with an overhead crosscourt sliced smash.
Sindhu has a tough last-four battle ahead against an opponent she has never beaten in three attempts. The five-time World Championship medallist will face South Korean second seed and world No. 4 An Seyoung who ousted Japan’s Saena Kawakami 21-14, 21-7 in 37 minutes. Seyoung’s last victory against Sindhu came in the final of the BWF World Tour Finals in December in Bali. Such has been the Korean’s dominance that Sindhu has not even managed to take a game in all three contests.
Earlier, on the same court and in a battle of two former world No. 1’s, fifth-seeded Srikanth fought hard against local hope Son Wan-ho, winning 21-12, 18-21, 21-12 in an hour and two minutes. Srikanth had lost his previous three outings against the Korean; their head-to-head is now 5-7. Though Son showed glimpses of his past abilities in the second game, the world No. 12 Indian dominated the decider winning 60 of the 105 points played.
Srikanth next faces reigning Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie, who ousted Thai eighth seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn 8-21, 21-17, 21-19 in an hour and 17 minutes. The two are 4-4 in career meetings though the Indonesian third seed came out on top when they last met. That was also in the semi-final with Christie going to win the Swiss Open in Basel last month.
Doubles losses
Men’s doubles third seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost 20-22, 21-18, 20-22 in an hour and 18 minutes to local players Kang Minhyuk and Seo Seungjae. Women’s doubles top seeds Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy also lost their quarter-final 19-21, 17-21 to the Korean team of Eom Hye Won and Bo Ryeong Kim in 53 minutes.
