PV Sindhu bows out of Australia Open; Prannoy, Rajawat to face off in semis

Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy and young Priyanshu Rajawat notched up contrasting wins to set up an allIndian mens singles semifinal clash while PV Sindhu bowed out of the Australia Open Super 500 badminton tournament here on FridayOrleans Masters champion Rajawat will make his maiden appearance in a semifinal of a Super 500 tournament after knocking out compatriot Kidambi Srikanth 2113 218 in a lopsided mens singles quarterfinalWorld number 9 Prannoy emerged victorious over world number 2 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia bouncing back from an opening game reversal to notch up a gritty 1621 2117 2114 win in a 73minute battleTwotime Olympic medallist Sindhu who has slipped to world number 17 following a series of early exits was looking to make her fourth semifinal of the season but found it tough to tame USAs world number 12 Beiwen Zhang losing 1221 1721 in 39 minutesIn their 10 past meetings Sindhu had won six times against her opponent The last time she faced Zhang the Indian had beaten her in straight games in the 2020 All England ChampionshipBut Sindhu just couldnt get going on Friday against the 33yearold Chinaborn American who showed better control to win in straight gamesSindhu the 2019 world champion had beaten compatriots Ashmita Chaliha and Aakarshi Kashyap in the first two rounds but her loss to Zhang would come as a big disappointment ahead of the World Championships in Copenhagen Denmark to be held from August 21 to 27Also Read Sindhus form not a concern she remains one of Indias best Coach GopichandBoth Prannoy and Ginting came into the match with a 22 headtohead record with the Indonesian having the last laugh in their previous encounter at the All England Championships in March this yearSixth seed Prannoy fell behind right from the start with Ginting dominating the rallies leading 116 at the breakThe Indian had his moments but it was too little as the Indonesian kept a firm grip on the match maintaining a fourpoint leadAt 1419 Prannoy reeled off two quick points before Ginting prevailed to take a 10 leadThe second game started on an even keel with the duo fighting close before Prannoy broke off at 99 to take a slender twopoint lead at the breakHe jumped to a 149 advantage before Ginting cut the deficit to 1215 The Indian shuttler moved to sevengame points but squandered four of them before taking the contest to the deciderIn the third game Prannoy galloped to 40 lead but Ginting managed to make it 78 before the Indian eked out an 117 advantagePrannoy extended his lead to 158 when Ginting scripted a fine recovery with five straight points to make it 1315 but the Indian squashed the mutiny and soon shut the door on his topseeded rivalPrannoy will go into the semifinal with a 10 advantage against world number 31 Rajawat having beaten him at the Syed Modi International in 2022However Rajawat the 21yearold from Madhya Pradesh who had joined Pullela Gopichands Gwalior academy at the age of 8 has improved by leaps and bounds in the last 12 months having stretched Ginting Japans Kodai Naraoka and compatriot Lakshya Sen to three games this seasonIn a battle between a senior pro and one trying to find his place in the international circuit Rajawat gave ample display of his talent as he slowly grabbed a 116 lead at the interval against SrikanthOn resumption the former world number 1 narrowed down the lead to 1113 after winning five of the next seven points but Rajawat broke off with a fourpoint burst to create a 1913 gap which Srikanth couldnt bridgeThe young Indian was faster and more precise in his return and maintained his momentum to zoom to an 113 lead after the change of sidesHe kept a hold on the match to eventually close out the match without much adoWith PTI inputs