Syed Modi International: Priyanshu Rajawat, Tanisha/Ashwini into the semis

Priyanshu Rajawat is the only male Indian shuttler to qualify for the semifinals in men's singles, while Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa reached the semis in the women's doubles category at the Syed Modi International badminton tournament here on Friday.

Priyanshu has reached his third semifinal of the year at the world tour after winning the title in Orleans Masters and finishing in the semifinals at the Australian Open. He won 21-15, 21-16 in the quarterfinals against the reigning world junior champion Alwi Farhan of Indonesia.In the semis, the world No. 31 Priyanshu will play against the world No. 48 Chi Yu Jen of Chinese Taipei. This will be the second meeting between the two players; Priyanshu came out on top in the last encounter in a straight-set match at Orleans Masters this year.

Earlier, the top Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth suffered an early-round exit at the tournament, alongside other shuttlers, leaving Priyanshu as the lone standing men's singles player in the event.

Tressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, making a return to the world tour after a long break, lost their quarterfinal match to another Indian pair, Tanisha Crasto & Ashwini Ponnappa.

Tanisha & Ashwini made an excellent comeback in the first set, trailing from 7-13 to a 21-19 win, and then carried the momentum into the second set, easily winning the match with 21-19, 21-8.

They could face the top seeded world no.5 ranked Japanese pair of Sayaka Hirota & Yuki Fukushima in the semis tomorrow.