Srikanth, Praneeth to face-off in Singapore Open men’s final
Sai Praneeth and Kidambi Srikanth set up an allIndian men’s singles showdown at the Singapore Open Superseries badminton tournament on Saturday after brilliant victories in the last four stages.
Kidambi Srikanth, 24, winner of the 2014 China Open Superseries event, defeated 20-yearold Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia 21-13 21-14 in 42 minutes in the second semifinals.
Srikanth, aiming for his second Superseries title, will take on Praneeth, who had it easier in the first semifinal when he swept aside Lee Dong Keun of Korea 21-6 21-8.
Srikanth, the world No 29, became the first Indian to claim a Superseries title since the graded events became part of the world badminton calendar when he stunned Chinese great, Lin Dan in straight games in the final on his home turf.
Praneeth, 24, winner of the Canada Open last year and finalist at the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold event in Lucknow in January, is on a comeback after suffering a shoulder injury. Praneeth’s major wins include the upset of Malaysian world No 1, Lee Chong Wei.
Spanish Olympic champion, Carolina Marin will take on world No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the women’s singles final. Marin defeated Sung Ji Hyung of Korea 21-19, 21-12 while Tai defeated Beiwen Zhang of Malaysia 21-19, 21-15 in the semifinals.
India are assured of a second singles title in a Superseries event this year after women’s world No 5 and Rio Olympic Games silver-medallist, PV Sindhu claimed the India Open by defeating Spain’s Carolina Marin in New Delhi.