Odense (Denmark): Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth stunned reigning World Champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark to reach the semifinals, while Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy lost in the quarterfinals of the Denmark Open World Super series Premier here Friday.
Men’s singles eighth seed Srikanth eliminated Rio Olympic bronze medallist and second seed Axelsen 14-21, 22-20, 21-7 in a match that lasted 56 minutes.
Srikanth was slow off the blocks, but once he found his rhythm late in the second game, there was no stopping him. He caught up with Axelson at 18-all in the second game and won it in deuce. In the third, Srikanth was simply all over his Spanish opponent with his cross-court smashes and flicks at the net.
Meanwhile Japanese fourth seed Akane Yamaguchi took only 29 minutes to dismantle Saina, who lost 10-21, 13-21. It was quite an underwhelming show from Saina as she failed to compete against the Japanese.
Yamaguchi will meet rising Chinese star Chen Yufei, while the other women’s singles semifinal will be fought between World No.1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei and former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Indonesia.
Prannoy fell against South Korean top seed Son Wan Ho, who won 13-21, 18-21in 44 minutes. Prannoy could never match the pace of the South Korean who controlled the shuttle admirably well to run away with the match in straight games. It was a disappointing show by Prannoy who committed many unforced errors.
Indo-Asian News Service