Sydney: India’s men’s doubles duo of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy advanced to the semifinals of the Australian Open badminton tournament here Friday, but the challenge in men’s singles ended with both Sameer Verma and B Sai Praneeth losing their respective quarterfinal matches.
Second seed Praneeth fought hard for 43 minutes before going down in straight games 21-23, 13-21 to Hong Kong’s Yiu Lee Cheuk at Court 1 of the Quay Centre Olympic Park here. After a tough first game, Praneeth seemed completely exhausted as the Hong Kong player ran away with the second game and the match.
Earlier, No.4 seed Sameer failed to exert any pressure against unseeded Chinese Guangzu Lu, who comfortably pocketed the encounter in straight games 21-14, 21-6 in 34 minutes.
Meanwhile, the men’s doubles match witnessed a brilliant comeback from Manu and Sumeeth against compatriots Arjun MR and Ramchandran Shlok in the 51-minute quarterfinal.
After going down 17-21 in the opening game, Manu and Sumeeth held their nerves to win the second game with a 21-19 margin before fending off the opponents in the decider with a close 21-18 margin. The match saw some brilliant rally from the both the teams.
At a glance
B Sai Praneeth lost to Yiu Lee Cheuk 21-23, 13-21
Sameer Verma lost to Guangzu Lu 14-21, 6-21
Manu & Sumeeth bt Arjun & Shlok 17-21, 21-19, 21-18
