Bali, Nov 19 (Representative) Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and former world no.1 Kidambi Srikanth reached the semi-final of Indonesia Masters Super 750 tournament after registering a straight sets win over their respective opponent on Friday. In the women’s singles, reigning world champion Sindhu ousted her Turkish opponent Neslihan Yigit by 21-13, 21-10 in just 35 minutes in the quarterfinal match. Sindhu kept her hold on the rallies and didn’t let Yigit to take advantage. Till the break Sindhu was leading 11-6. She took the first game with ease by 21-13. The Turkish shuttler tried to get better of Sindhu in the second game as she won first three points but Sindhu shifted the momentum by taking three consecutive points. At mid-game interval, Sindhu was leading with the score of 11-8. Later, she dominated Yigit and the Turkish player managed to win just two points before Sindhu squared it up.
In the semi-final, Sindhu will be up against Akane Yamaguchi of Japan against who Sindhu holds 12-7 in head-to-head record. Tokyo Olympics quarterfinal clash was the last meeting between the two shuttlers; where Sindhu defeated the Japanese by 21-13, 22-20. Later in the men’s singles quarterfinal, Kidambi Srikanth outclassed his compatriot HS Prannoy by 21-7, 21-18 to seal his spot in the semis. Srikanth outplayed Prannoy in the first set. In the second game, Prannoy made a recovery with a 5-2 lead and tried to shift the momentum in his favour but Srikanth snatched the lead by the time of mid-game interval. The former world no. 1 then changed gear and extended the lead to 15-12. Despite Prannoy leveling the score, Srikanth didn’t allow the fellow Indian to take the match to the decider and sealed the deal. Srikanth will face the winner of the quarterfinal between Kunlavut Viditsarn of Thailand and World no. 3 Danish shuttler Anders Antonsen. On his way to the quarterfinal, Prannoy scripted a shocking upset after defeating Tokyo Olympic gold medallist and world no.2 Viktor Axelsen by 14-21, 21-19,21 but he fell short in the semis.