Ho Chi Minh City: India shuttler Sourabh Verma booked his place in the men’s singles final of the ongoing Vietnam Open BWF Tour Super 100 tournament after registering a straight-games victory over Japan’s Minoru Koga Saturday.
The second-seeded Indian defeated Koga 22-20, 21-15 in the semifinal clash which lasted for 51 minutes.
Sourabh, who hasn’t lost a game en route to the finals of the ongoing competition, was given a stiff fight by his Japanese opponent throughout the course of the match. However, the World No. 38 came up with a gritty performance in both the games and emerged victorious.
After getting a bye in the first round, Verma — who is the lone Indian in the competition — outlasted Japan’s Kodai Naraoka 22-20, 22-20 in a tight second-round clash. Naraoka’s compatriot, Yu Igarashi then posed a stern test to Verma in which the Indian came out with flying colours. A gruelling 25-23, 24-22 victory sealed the deal for Verma and put him in the quarterfinals.
And the last-eight match against home favourite Tien Minh Nguyen turned out to be the easiest for him as he cruised to a 21-13, 21-18 victory Friday.
He will now face Sun Fei Xiang of China — who went past Lin Yu Hsien 21-17, 21-16 — in the final Sunday.
