BADMINTON

Asia Championships: Saina, Prannoy eye final berths

Both Saina and Prannoy will play their respective last-four clashes on Saturday

[FILE] Saina Nehwal | PTI [FILE] Saina Nehwal | PTI

Ace Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and H.S. Prannoy will look to book their place in the finals of the Badminton Asia Championships when they play their respective last-four clashes here on Saturday.

On Friday, the London Olympic bronze-medallist showcased a rich vein of form as she thrashed unseeded Korean Lee Jang Mi 21-15, 21-13 in a one-sided quarter-final clash of the women's singles event that lasted 43 minutes.

Nehwal, who clinched a gold medal in the recently-concluded 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games, will now lock horns with World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, world No 10 Prannoy eked out a hard-fought 18-2, 23-21, 21-12 win over second-seeded Son Wan Ho of Korea in the last-eight men's singles clash that lasted just half an hour.

With the win, Prannoy has now set up a semi-final clash against third seed Chen Long of China.

Earlier, Rio Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu and top-seeded Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the tournament after losing their respective quarter-final clashes.

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