Former world number one Saina Nehwal on Friday eased into the semi-final of the ongoing Indonesia Masters while Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the tournament.
Saina swept aside Pornpawee Chochuwong 21-7, 21-18 Thailand to book a spot in the semis of the women's singles event. She will now face He Bingjiao of China in their semi-final match.
Srikanth, on the other hand, was knocked out by local player Jonatan Christie who thrashed the Indian 21-18, 21-19 to advance further in the tournament.
Saina won 42 rallies out of a total of 67 rallies played and earned three game points to emerge victorious. Getting off to a good start, the Olympics bronze medallist succeeded in maintaining the winning momentum in the match.
Her dominance continued in the second game and she raced well ahead of her opponent after some initial hiccups.
In the men's singles, Srikanth committed multiple errors to give Christie an edge in the first game. The Indian shuttler has had his moments but they did not prove to be good enough on the day.
The second game brought no respite for Srikanth as he gave away the crucial six points lead to the Indonesian player in the initial stage of the match. The world number eight Indian did make some comeback attempts but eventually, he ended up losing the game 19-21.
Later in the day, India's PV Sindhu will be battling for a spot in the semi-final against Carolina Marin of Spain.
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