Syed Modi International: Sourabh Verma, Rituparna Das advance to semi-finals, Kidambi Srikanth crashes out

Lucknow: Indian shuttlers Sourabh Verma and Rituparna Das advanced to the semi-finals but Kidambi Srikanth made an exit after losing in the quarter-finals of the Syed Modi International tournament on Friday.

Sourabh, who claimed two BWF Super 100 titles in Hyderabad and Vietnam this year, notched up a 21-19, 21-16 win over Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn, a three-time world junior champion and reigning Asian junior champion, in the quarter-final match.

The 26-year-old Sourabh will next face Korea’s Heo Kwang Hee for a place in the men’s singles final.

However, third seed Srikanth continued to struggle as his run was cut short by former World No 1 Son Wan Ho.

Srikanth, who had reached the finals at India Open Super 500 early this year, went down 18-21, 19-21 to the seventh-seeded Korean for his seventh loss in 11 meetings.

In the women’s singles, former national champion Rituparna overcame a fighting Shruti Mundada 24-26, 21-10, 21-19 in an all-Indian quarter-final to enter the last four stage.

Rituparna, who won the Polish International in 2016 and 2018, will now face Thailand’s Phittayaporn Chaiwan on Saturday.

In doubles, the women’s pair of Kuhoo Garg and Anoushka Parikh lost 15-21, 9-21 to Hong Kong combination of NG Wing Yung and Yeung Nga Ting to bow out of the competition.

Earlier, the young women’s doubles pair of Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker was no match for Linda Efler and Isabel Herttrich of Germany, going down 7-21, 16-21 in another quarter-final match.