Orleans Masters: Saina, Ashwini-Sikki duo bow out in semis; Krishna Prasad-Vishnu Vardhan pairing enter finals

Saina lost her semi-final match in straight games to bow out of the tournament.

Saina's impressive run at the Orleans Masters was brought to an end by Denmark's Line Christophersen- PTI

Saina Nehwal bowed out in a straight games in the women's singles semifinals but unheralded duo of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnu Vardhan Goud Panjala kept India in the title hunt by storming into men's doubles final at the Orleans Masters on Saturday.

Saina lost 17-21, 17-21 to Denmark's Line Christophersen in 28 minutes. The women's duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy also faltered 18-21, 9-21 to top seeded Thai pair of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai at the semifinals

However, Krishna and Vishnu cheered up the Indian camp with a 21-17 21-17 win over English pair of Callum Hemming and Steven Stallwood in a 35 minute semifinal clash to reach their maiden final of a Super 100 event.

The Indian duo, playing their first event together this year, will take on either Indonesian pair of Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani or fourth seeded English combination of Ben Lane and Sean Vendy in the title clash on Sunday.

Krishna and Vishnu had a slender 4-2 early on but the English paur soon jumped to a 11-8 lead at the break. However, the Indian pai soon caught up at 13-13 and marched on to seal the opening game.

In the second game, Krishna and Vishnu slowly moved ahead to a 11-7 advantage at the interval and even though their rivals narrowed down the gap to 15-17, the Indian duo ensured there was no hiccups.