Indian shuttler Sourabh Varma is one step away from making his third successive final as he entered the men’s singles semifinals of the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix following a hard-fought win over Japan’s Kento Horiuchi here on Friday.
Sourabh, who reached the finals at two international challengers - Belgian and Poland Open - defeated Kento 7-11, 11-1, 11-3, 11-7 in a 31-minute match to set up a clash with Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Jen Hao at the USD 55,000 event. 2011 national champion Sourabh has a 3-0 record against Hao and he will hope to come up on top on Saturday at the Hsing Chuang Gymansium here.
Kento had opened up a 3-0 lead early on and though Sourabh managed to draw parity at 4-4, the Japanese broke off at 7-7 to grab the opening game. A jolted Sourabh dished out a completely dominating game in the next.
In the third game, Sourabh once again lead from start to finish to lead 2-1 in the five-game rubber, which is being tested by the BWF in the tournament.
In the fourth game, Kento managed to eke out a 4-0 lead but Sourabh soon reeled off six points to turn the tables, leading 7-4. The Indian then sealed the issue without much issue.
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