US Open GPG: Parupalli Kashyap, HS Prannoy reach semis; Manu Attri, B Sumeeth Reddy make last-four in doubles

Anaheim: Indian shuttlers Parupalli Kashyap, HS Prannoy and the men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy entered to the semi-finals of the US Open Grand Prix. Kashyap on Friday ended the hopes of his compatriot Sameer Verma with a 21-13, 21-16 victory in 40 minutes. Kashyap will meet South Korea’s Kwang Hee Heo in the semi-final. Kwang defeated Japan’s Koki Watanabe 21-16, 16-21, 21-9. [caption id=“attachment_3776317” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photot of Parupalli Kashyap. AFP[/caption] It will be world No.59 Kashyap’s first encounter against Kwang. Second seed Prannoy got the better of Japanese eighth seed Kanta Tsuneyama in a 10-21, 21-15, 21-18 triumph in an hour. In the next round, world No.23 Prannoy’s opponent will be Vietnamese 15th seed Tien Minh Nguyen, who brushed aside South Korean 10th seed Jeon Hyeok Jin 21-15, 21-15. Prannoy and World No.66 Nguyen have faced once — in 2012 Asia Championships where the Vietnamese had won. The third seeded men’s doubles pair of Manu-Sumeeth moved past Japanese seventh seeds Hiroki Okamura and Masayuki Onodera 21-18, 22-20 in 43 minutes. Manu-Sumeeth will face a big task in the semi-final as they will be up againt Chinese Taipei’s top-seeded combine of Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han. Lu-Yang crushed Vietnamese pair of Tuan Duc Do and Hong Nam Pham 21-13, 21-18 in 31 minutes.