Swiss Open: PV Sindhu reaches semifinal after 19 months

India's ace shuttler PV Sindhu secured a 21-16, 23-21 win over Busanan Ongbamrungphan while Srikanth defeated Kantaphon Wangcharoen 21-19, 21-15 to advance in the semifinals of the Swiss Open on Friday. Sindhu looked promising throughout the tournament as she reaches the last-four stage of an event after 18 months since she won the BWF World Championships since August 2019.

Sindhu looked better in the opening game as she won it with ease. While in the second game, Ongbamrungphan gave a very tough fight to the Indian player. However, Sindhu held her nerves and went on to win the game by 23-21.

Srikanth also had a hard task cut out in the match to progress as Wangcharoen gave a tough competition. Indian shuttler won the first game by 21-19 but in the second game, Srikanth looked in control and dominated his opponent.

In the men's doubles event, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost the first game again the Malaysian team of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi. The pair, however, pulled off a strong comeback to win the next two games 21-12, 19-21, 21-12, and move into the semi-finals.

Earlier in the day, Indian mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa's fine run in the ongoing Swiss Open came to a disappointing end after a defeat in the quarter-finals. Satwik and Ashwini showed top-notch fighting spirit before going down to World No 13 and No 5 pair -Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing of Malaysia in three sets 17-21, 21-16, 18-21.

In the singles match, Ajay Jayaram's fine run at the Swiss Open Super 300 came to an end with the defeat against Thai badminton player Kunlavut Vitidsarn. The shuttler from Thailand thrashed the India badminton player in two straight sets 21-9, 21-6. Ajay had displayed some sensational performances in the ongoing showpiece event but wasn't able to recreate the show on Friday.