PV Sindhu, Prannoy in Swiss Open semis

Basel, March 25

Double Olympics medallist PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy stormed into the semifinals of the Swiss Open badminton tournament with straight-game victories here today.

In the women’s singles, second seed Sindhu made short work of fifth seed Michelle Li of Canada 21-10 21-19 in 36 minutes. In the men’s singles, Prannoy beat compatriot Parupalli Kashyap 21-16 21-16 in 43 minutes.

Sindhu will meet unseeded Supanida Katethong of Thailand in the semifinals on Saturday. Prannoy faces third seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the semifinals. The Indonesian beat Sameer Verma 21-17 21-14 in a quarterfinal match that lasted 39 minutes.

In the women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy went down fighting to the Malaysian duo of Vivian Hoo and Chiew Sien Kim in the quarterfinals. The Indian pair lost 20-22 21-23 in 55 minutes. —