Day 4 Report: Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth stunned reigning world champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark to reach the semi-finals, while Saina Nehwal and HS Prannoy lost in the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open World Superseries Premier on Friday. Men’s singles eighth seed Srikanth eliminated Rio Olympic bronze medallist and second seed Axelsen with a 14-21, 22-20, 21-7 in 56 minutes. The 24-year-old from Guntur was the lone bright spot for India on the day as London Olympics bronze medallist Saina and Prannoy exited the tournament. Japanese fourth seed Akane Yamaguchi took only 29 minutes to dismantle Saina, who lost 10-21, 13-21. It was quite an underwhelming show from Saina as she failed to compete against the Japanese. Yamaguchi will meet rising Chinese star Chen Yufei, while the other women’s singles semi-final will be fought between World No 1 Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei and former world champion Ratchanok Intanon of Indonesia. Prannoy fell against South Korean top seed Son Wan Ho, who won 13-21, 18-21 in 44 minutes. Son will face South Korean Lee Hyun Il in a last four battle. Srikanth will meet the winner of the quarter-final between Vincent Ki Wing Wong and Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.
Highlights Denmark Open SSP, semi-finals: Kidambi Srikanth storms into his fourth final of 2017
Catch the live score and updates of the semi-finals at the Denmark Open Superseries Premier. India’s Kidambi Srikanth will be in action
)
There were some fine matches tonight at the Odense Sports Park in Denmark.
Akane Yamaguchi set up a mouth-watering clash with Ratchanok Intanon for the women’s singles title.
In the men’s finals, India’s Kidambi Srikanth will take on Korea’s Lee Hyun Il. Both players had contrasting wins in their respective semi-finals. While Hyun defeated former World No 1 Son Wan Ho in a gruelling three-game encounter, Kidambi eased past Wong Wing ki Vincent with relative ease in two games.
A blockbuster Sunday awaits all badminton fans and join us on Sunday for Firstpost’s live coverage of the finals day of the Denmark Open Superseries Premier.
Thank you for joining us today and see you tomorrow for yet another exciting day of badminton
It is Kidambi Srikanth who wins the semi-final match and storms into yet another Superseries final, his fourth this year.
He beat the Hong Kong shuttler 21-18, 21-17
On Court 1, the men’s doubles match between the Danish pair of Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen against the Chinese duo, Liu Cheng and Zhang Nan is underway. The Danish pair have lost the opening game but are leading in the second.
Kidambi Srikanth will be in action next after the completion of the men’s doubles semi-final
Lee Hyun Il prevails over compatriot and former World No 1 Son Wan Ho in a thrilling 91-minute encounter.
Hyun won 25-23, 18-21, 21-17