Sindhu, Srikanth cruise into semis

Kuala Lumpur, June 29: P. V. Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth entered the semifinals of the $ 700,000 Malaysian Open in the women’s and men’s singles here on Friday.

Sindhu beat Olympic champion Carolina Marin a 22- 20, 21- 19 in 52 minutes.

The 22- year- old Sindhu, who took silver at the Glasgow World Championship, will face world no. 1 and top seed Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying on Saturday.

Earlier, fourth seed Srikanth dumped world no. 22 France’s Brice Leverdez 21- 18, 21- 14 in a 39- minute clash at the Axiata Arena.

The 25- year- old will take on former world no. 2 Kento Momota, who has been in sensational form ever since making a comeback after serving a oneyear ban by the Japan Badminton Association for gambling at an illegal casino in 2015.

In the women’s singles, Sindhu moved to a 3- 1 lead but Marin clawed back. Sindhu again opened a slender two- point lead which evaporated quickly.

Sindhu and Marin continued to fight it out as leads changed hands frequently. A net error and a wide shot by Marin saw Sindhu claw back at 20- 20. The Spaniard hit wide and then found the net as the Indian pocketed the opening game.

In the second game, Sindhu grabbed a 11- 6 advantage after reeling off five straight points.

A solid defence saw Sindhu grab three match points. She blew two points before unleashing a cross court smash to seal the contest in 52 minutes.