Indonesia Masters: Srikanth storms into semis

World No. 9 K. Srikanth defeated Malaysia’s Teck Zhi Soo to move into the semi-finals of the Indonesia Masters Grand Prix Gold. P. V. Sindhu suffered a loss against He Bingjiao of China to bow out of the tournament.

The 22-year-old from Guntur, who had defeated China’s Qiao Bin 21-12, 21-15 yesterday, will take on Indonesia’s Ginting Anthony in the semis.

Top seed K. Srikanth advanced to the semi-finals in men’s singles but P. V. Sindhu, who clinched the Macau Open last week, bowed out of the women’s singles with a straight-game loss, at the $ 120,000 Indonesia Masters Grand Prix Gold tournament. World No. 9 Srikanth, who has qualified for the BWF Super Series Finals, emerged as the lone Indian survivor as he spanked Malaysia’s Teck Zhi Soo, seeded 15th, 21-10, 21-5 in a match that lasted just 24 minutes.

The 22-year-old from Guntur, who had defeated China’s Qiao Bin 21-12, 21-15 yesterday, will take on Indonesia’s Ginting Anthony. Two-time bronze medallist at World Championships, Sindhu, who clinched the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold last week, suffered an unexpected 21-23, 13-21 loss against He Bingjiao of China in 36 minutes.

Srikanth didn’t allow any chance to Teck to challenge his authority. The Indian opened up a 6-0 and 5-0 lead in the first and second games respectively and marched ahead without much ado to seal a semi-final spot.

In women’s singles quarterfinals, a lot was expected from Sindhu but the Indian could not stave the challenge from Bingjiao, who led 10-5 in the opening game. Even though Sindhu managed to draw parity at 15-15 and then grab a slender 20-19 lead, the Chinese surged ahead to pocket the opening game.

In the second game, Bingjiao led 6-5 and then reeled off nine straight points to dash Sindhu’s hope of a comeback in the match.