Asian Championships: Saina, Prannoy Reach Semis; Srikanth, Sindhu crash out

It was a mixed day for India at the Badminton Asia Championships on Friday. While Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy stormed into the semifinals, top ranked PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth were shown the door at the Wuhan Sports Centre.
Saina made short work of Lee Jang Mi of South Korea 21-15, 21-13, Sindhu lost 21-19, 21-10 to Ji Hyun Sung of South Korea, Prannoy shocked former world No.1 Wan Ho Son 18-21, 23-21, 21-12 and Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia defeated Srikanth 21-12, 21-15.
While Saina's win was on expected lines, Prannoy's victory was exciting for the Indian contingent. “It was a tough match but I’m happy to have won it. Tactically I was smart and that made the difference,” Prannoy said.
Prannoy lost the first game, survived in the second game and dominated the Korean in the decider.
The fact that he saved four game points in the first bolstered his confidence in the second game.
Prannoy started with a 4-0 lead in the second and led 12-8 before Son drew level at 14-14. From then on it was a see-saw battle before Prannoy managed two big points at 21-21 to force the decider.
In the decider, Prannoy raced ahead from 8-7 to 12-7 and from 12-8 to 16-18 to put it beyond Son.
Prannoy will now face Olympic champion Chen Long in the semifinals. The Chinese former world champion downed Ng Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong 22-24, 21-15, 21-17. Saina broke no sweat in demolishing the Korean youngster, but she needs to punch above her weight against Tai Tzu Ying. The top seed from Taiwan enjoys a 10-5 winloss record against Saina. The other women’s semi will pit Ji Hyun Sung against Chen Yufei of China.
14 Indians in first list of qualifiers for Worlds
Fourteen Indian shuttlers have made it to the first list of the qualifiers for the BWF World Championships in Nanjing from July 30 to August 5.
Sindhu, Saina, Srikanth, Prannoy and Sai Praneeth made the cut in the singles category while two Indian pairs qualified in three doubles categories.
List of qualifiers
Men’s singles: Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy and B Sai Praneeth. Doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty, Manu Atrri and Sumeeth Reddy.
Women’s singles: PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal. Doubles: Ashwini Ponnappa, Sikki Reddy, Jakkampudi Meghana and Poorvisha Ram. Mixed doubles: Pranaav Jerry Chopra, Sikki Reddy, Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj.