New Delhi: Malaysia’s unseeded Iskandar Zulkarnain continued his excellent run of form by casting aside defending champion Sameer Verma of India 21-17, 21-14 in the quarter-finals of India Open on Friday. Zulkarnain, who defeated World No. 5 Kidambi Srikanth on Thursday, used terrific court coverage and pinpoint accuracy to nullify the Indian shuttler in 49 minutes.
The World No. 86 Zulkarnain will take on World No. 8 Shi Yuqi of China in the semi-finals on Saturday, after the fourth seeded Chinese player outlasted number six seed Wang Tzu Wei of Taiwan 21-13, 21-12 on Friday.
After making the Malaysia Masters and Indonesia Masters semi-finals, the Malaysia’s mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai who now ranked World No. 12 was shown the exit in the quarter-finals, losing to China’s World No. 34 He Jiting/Du Yue 11-21, 19-21.
In women’s singles, India’s home favorite and the defending champion P.V. Sindhu fought back from dropping a set to beat Beatriz Corrales of Spain 21-12, 19-21, 21-11. After winning the first set, Sindhu tried to avoid Corrales from forcing the decider in the second set, reeling off six consecutive points from 13-20 deficit to reach 19-20 before the Spaniard got a lucky net shot to end the second game with 21-19.
The No. 1 seed Indian shuttler will play No. 3 seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand in the semi-finals.
Intanon however, didn’t look to be hampered much (if at all), as she gracefully stormed into the semi-finals by defeating No. 7 seed Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong 21-11, 21-11.
