India's ace shuttler PV Sindhu defeated Russia's Evgeniya Kosetskaya on January 22 to enter the final of the ongoing Syed Modi International 2022 tournament. The 26-year-old Sindhu won the first set comprehensively. After that the Russian opponent retired in the second game.
Sindhu, ranked seventh in the BWF rankings, had beaten world number 28 Kosetskaya twice before Saturday’s match. She maintained her dominating record against the Russian. The match was expected to be easy for Sindhu, considering the form she has been of late.
The 26-year-old Sindhu came out all guns blazing in the semi-final clash and she took the first game comprehensively 21-11.
Earlier, Sindhu had outclassed the sixth-seed Supanida Katethong 11-21, 21-12, 21-17 in a quarterfinal clash that lasted for one hour and five minutes.
Former world champion Sindhu will take on compatriot Malvika Bansod in the final on Sunday. Malavika defeated another Indian Anupama Upadhyay 19-21, 21-19, 21-7 in the three-game semi-final.
In the men's singles, HS Prannoy crashed out of the tournament with a straight-game defeat to Arnaud Merkle of France in the quarterfinals. The fifth-seeded Indian, a former top 10 player, lost 19-21 16-21 to his French opponent in a 59-minute quarterfinal match.
Mithun Manjunath, however, advanced to the semifinals after beating Sergey Sirant of Russia 11-21 21-12 21-18 in quarterfinal clash that lasted one hour and one minute. Manjunath will face Merkle in the semifinals.
In the men's doubles, sixth-seeded Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala defeated the duo of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Sai Pratheek 21-17 21-18 in an all-India quarterfinal match. They will face another Indian pair of Prem Singh Chouhan and Rajesh Verma in the semifinals.
In the other men's doubles quarterfinal match, fourth-seeded Indians MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila defeated the French pair of Fabien Delrue and William Villeger 21-16 19-21 21-19. They face Malaysia's Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee in the semifinals.
In the women's doubles quarterfinals, India's Ramya Venkatesh Chickmenahalli and Apeksha Nayak conceded a walkover to eighth-seeded Malaysian pair of Anna Ching Yik Cheong and Teoh Mei Xing, who will face another Indian pair of Haritha M Harinarayanan and Ashna Roy in the semifinals.
Seventh-seeded Indian pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Pullela Gopichand upset second-seeded Russia duo of Anastasiia Akchurina and Olga Morozova 24-22 21-10 in another women's doubles quarterfinal match. The India pair will face Malaysia's Low Yeen Yuan and Valeree Siow in the semifinals.
