Sindhu enters the semis of Korea Open
PV Sindhu advanced into the semi-finals of the Korea Open Superseries beating Japan's Minatsu Mitani in three games 21-19 16-21 21-10, in a match that lasted just over an hour. She would now face the winner of quarterfinal between Sung Ji Hyun and He Bingjiao. Earlier in the day, Sameer Verma lost his match against World No 1 Son Wan Ho 22-20, 10-21, 13-21.
A couple of weeks after the conclusion of the BWF World Championships, the Indian shuttlers are now fighting for the title at the Korea Super Series, formerly known as the Korea Open. The tournament, held annually in Seoul, South Korea started on Tuesday, 12th September 2017. First held in 1991, the tournament became one of the BWF Super Series tournaments in 2007.
Historically speaking, Indians have never been successful at the Korea Open. Among the top performing nations are, of course, China, South Korea and Denmark. However, this year, given the form of the Indian shuttlers, things could be different. Although Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth have withdrawn due to injuries, PV Sindhu and Sai Praneeth are quite capable of winning a medal or two.
Parupalli Kashyap bowed out in the second round after a narrow defeat to South Korea's Son Wan Ho. Kashyap managed to pull back a game after losing the first but eventually succumbed 16-21 21-17 16-21 in the hard fought encounter. India's other hope, B Sai Praneeth, was ousted in the second round also. He suffered a 13-21 24-26 loss to China's Tzu Wei Wang.
P V Sindhu and Sameer Verma managed to keep the Indian hopes alive by progressing to the quarter-finals on Thursday. Sindhu beat Thailand's Nitchaon Jindapol 22-20 21-17 to set up a quarter-final clash with Minatsu Mitani of Japan. Meanwhile, Sameer beat Hong Kong's Wong Wing Ki Vincent 21-19 21-13 to set up a tough quarters match against local favourite Son Wan Ho.
