Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap and H. S. Prannoy entered the semifinals of the men’s singles competition of the US Open Grand Prix Gold here on Saturday.
Kashyap, who's on a comeback trail, reached his first semifinals of an international event in seven months after defeating compatriot Sameer Verma 21-13, 21-16 in 40 minutes to set up a clash with Korea’s Kwang Hee Heo.
Kashyap had entered the semifinals at Korea Open last December.
For Prannoy, it was the second semifinal appearance of the season after his last four finish at the Indonesia Super Series Premier last month.
Second seeded Prannoy saw off Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama 10-21, 21-15, 21-18 in a men’s singles match that lasted exactly an hour at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.
Prannoy will next take on 15th seed Tien Minh Nguyen of Vietnam, who had beaten the Indian at the 2012 Badminton Asia Championships in their only meeting so far.
Third seeds Manu and Sumeeth defeated Japan’s Hiroki Okamura and Masayuki Onodera 21-18, 22-20 in men’s doubles. The duo, who had played at the Rio Olymnpics, will face top seeds Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han of Chinese Taipei.
INDIA'S CAMPAIGN ENDS AT RUSSIA OPEN
India’s campaign at the Russian Open Grand Prix came to an end after Rahul Yadav Chittaboina and men’s doubles pair of Arjun M. R. and Ramchandran Shlok suffered defeats at the semifinals, in Vladivostok on Saturday.
The 19-year-old Rahul, who had won the Mauritius International last year, fought hard before going 11-5, 10-12, 11-7, 6-11, 8-11 to second seed Russian Vladimir Malkov in a 49-minute men’s singles match.
Fourth seeds Arjun and Ramchandran also couldn’t cross the semifinal stage as they lost 3-11, 2-11, 4-11 to top seeds Vladimir Ivanov and Ivan Sozonov, who had won the 2016 All England Super Series Premier.
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