Dubai World SS Finals: Sindhu storms into semis, Srikanth crashes out

Olympic silver medallist P.V. Sindhu eased past world No.3 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 21-9, 21-13 in 36 minutes.

P.V. Sindhu returns to Akane Yamaguchi.

India's P.V. Sindhu registered her third consecutive win to top the women’s singles of Group A in the World Superseries Finals at the Hamadan Sports Complex here on Friday.

Olympic silver medallist Sindhu eased past world No.3 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan 21-9, 21-13 in 36 minutes.

AS IT HAPPENED

Coming into the match, both Sindhu and Yamaguchi had already secured their positions in the semifinals, eliminating the other two players in the group, Japanese Sayaka Sato and China’s He Bingjiao.

“Happy to win the match today and top the group..waiting for the draw to be out tonight,” Sindhu wrote on Twitter after her game.

Indian men’s singles star Kidambi Srikanth lost to Chinese Shi Yuqi 17-21, 21-19, 14-21 in an hour and 14 minutes. It was Srikanth’s third consecutive defeat which makes it an unforgettable maiden outing for him.

Kidambi Srikanth's expression says it all.

 

Sayaka defeated Bingjiao 21-18, 21-16 in 32 minutes to get a consolation win.

From Group B, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon and Chen Yufei of China were through to the semifinals. Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying and South Korean Sung ji Hyun were eliminated.

Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and Yuqi advanced to the semifinals from this group.

In the other group, Malaysian veteran Lee Chong Wei and South Korean Son Wan Ho moved into the last four stage.