Malaysia Masters: PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy reach semis; Srikanth knocked out

Star Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy reached the semi-finals of Malaysia Masters 2023 after defeating their respective opponents while Kidambi Srikanth crashed out in the quarterfinals on Friday,

Taking the court first, Kidambi Srikanth started well against his less-fancied opponent Christian Adinata of Indonesia by winning the first game 21-16.

But the former world number 1 failed to carry the momentum as the Indonesian youngster displayed fantastic badminton to win the game 21-16 and 21-11 to win the match.

India's only shuttler in Women's singles, PV Sindhu took on Zhang Yi Man of China in her quarterfinal encounter.

The match started with both shuttlers playing some fabulous badminton and Sindhu leading 11-10 at the mid-game break in the first game. Sindhu moved quickly after the break and took some quick points to win the first game 21-16 despite Zhang putting up some fight.

Zhang started well in the second game with Sindhu making multiple mistakes. Zhang was leading 11-4 at the mid-game break. Sindhu tried to recover some points but Zhang was quick to win the game 21-13 and force a decider.

In the decider, the game hung in balance with both shuttlers taking quick points. Sindhu went into the lead of 11-8 at the mid-game break. The game became more intense after the break with both players moving into the lead multiple times.

It looked all over when Sindhu was leading 20-17 but then Zhang saved three points to level it at 20-20. Sindhu brought in all her experience to win the match by 22-20 in the final game.

The double Olympic medallist will face Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the semi-finals tomorrow.

HS Prannoy faced Kenta Nishimoto, who was coming on the back of a win against Jonathan Christie, in the quarterfinals.

The duo played a marathon match which ended after 90 minutes with Prannoy winning it 25-23, 18-21, 21-13.

Kenta Nishimoto started the match with a lead in the first game but the game went for more than 30 minutes which was eventually won in the last moment by Prannoy 25-23.

The second game was another close one with Kenta Nishimoto winning it this time by 21-18.

In the final game, both players looked visibly tired with HS Prannoy requiring some medical attention too. Despite all the hazards, Prannoy reigned supreme as he displayed immaculate defense to take down Nishimoto after 90 minutes.

Prannoy will face Christian Adinata in the semifinals tomorrow.