Badminton
Orleans Masters: Priyanshu Rajawat storms into semi-finals
Priyanshu Rajawat defeated Ju Yen Chi of Chinese Taipei in straight sets to storm into the semi-finals of the Orleans Masters.
Indian youngster Priyanshu Rajawat produced an excellent display to defeat Yu Jen Chi of Chinese Taipei and reach the semi-finals of Orleans Masters 2023 on Friday.
Rajawat defeated the Chinese Taipei shuttler 21-18, 21-18 in a 44-minute match to set up a semi-final clash against Nhat Ngyuen of Ireland who got a walkover in his quarter-final match against Israel’s Misha Zilberman.
Yu Jen Chi started well as Rajawat took some time to find his footing in the game and took the lead at the mid-game interval. Rajawat fended off a late comeback from Yu Jen Chi to win the first game 21-18.
In the second game, Jen Chi started in the same fashion by taking an early lead before Rajawat found his momentum and hold his nerves to win the game 21-18 and reach the semis.
Coming from a giant-killing quarter-final where he took top-seed Kenta Nishimoto down, this is the BWF World Tour semi-finals for the 21-year-old Indian.
Later in the night, the seventh-seeded duo of M.R. Arjun and Dhruv Kapila went down fighting against the Indonesian pair of Leo Rolly Carnado and Daniel Marthin in men's doubles quarter-finals by 21-16, 11-21, 20-22.
With the exit of Dhruv/Arjun, Priyanshu remains India's only contender in the semi-final bracket of Orleans Masters 2023.
