Kidambi Srikanth entered the semi-finals of the Australian Open Superseries after defeating compatriot B Sai Praneeth 25-23, 21-17 in the quarterfinals in Sydney on Friday. But there was disappointment for India in women's singles as both PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal lost their respective quarterfinals to higher-ranked opponents.
With his win over Praneeth, Srikanth became the first Indian man to reach three back-to-back semifinals at Superseries events. He had previously reached the semis at the Singapore Open -- where he lost against Praneeth in the final -- and won the title at the Indonesia Open last week. He further reached his second consecutive semifinal in the tournament, which is the best display by an Indian in the men's singles event.
He had previously defeated qualifier Kan Chao Yu and World no. 1 Son Wan Ho in the first two rounds and will next face the winner of the match between China's Yuqi Shi and defending champion Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus in the semi-final.
In what started off as a quintessential Srikanth vs. Praneeth match, Praneeth took an early 4-1 lead. Srikanth attempted a turn-around as he reduced the gap to 3-4, but trailed till he drew level at 10-10. From there on, both players led back and forth with Praneeth taking a lead and Srikanth leveling right after.
Trailing 13-16, Srikanth showcased his improved defensive skills as he scored four consecutive points to lead 17-16. After extending the lead to 20-17, he squandered three game points as Praneeth leveled at 20-20. The back and forth continued before Srikanth held his nerve to take the game 25-23.
The second game started on a similar note, with Praneeth taking an early lead of 4-1. The lead, however, didn't last long as Srikanth soon leveled at 4-4. Srikanth then took a lead of 9-6, but Praneeth came back with three back-to-back points to level at 9-9.
Srikanth then cruised to a 13-10 lead before Praneeth fought back to decrease the gap to 13-12. Srikanth, however, maintained his patience, taking a four-point lead at 16-12. Even as Praneeth tried to come back, the lead proved to be too much for him to chase as Srikanth went on to win the game and the match at 21-17, taking his head-to-head tally against Praneeth to 2-5. The match lasted 43 minutes.
In women's singles, Sindhu lost despite winning the first game convincingly in only 15 minutes against world No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei. She won seven consecutive points at one stage in the game.
In the second game, too, the Indian player led 11-8 at the changeover and seemed to have the match in her grip. But Tai didn't give up and kept up the pressure by winning points at regular intervals. She first levelled the score at 13-13 and then led 18-14. But it was Sindhu who had game point -- and the match point - at 20-19, which she failed to convert. Tai eventually won the game in 23 minutes.
Sindhu went into the break in the deciding game with a two-point advantage and led 14-11 after that. But after an error at the net from the Indian on the next point, Tai won a couple of points in succession and levelled at 14-14. From thereon, Tai successfully put Sindhu under pressure and ran away with the game.
Tai won 10-21, 22-20, 21-16.
Later, defending champion Saina lost in three games to world No. 6 Sun Yu, against whom she had a 6-1 head-to-head advantage going into the match.
Sun led 11-9 at the first break and -- though both players won points consistently -- maintained a slight edge over Saina till the end of the first game, winning it in 22 minutes.
Saina got into the groove in the second game and proved too strong for Sun. She led 11-4 at the changeover and did not let the Chinese player back into the game.
The momentum seemed to have switched to Saina's side by then. Saina led 11-9 at the break and then 15-13 in the third game. But Sun had a great run from there, winning seven consecutive points -- aided by a couple of errors from Saina -- and shutting the Indian player out of the game.
Sun won the match 21-17, 10-21, 21-17 in 78 minutes.