Swiss Open: Sindhu, Srikanth through to semis of the tournament

Basel [Switzerland], March 5 (ANI): Indian shuttlers PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the semi-finals of the Swiss Open after winning their respective matches here on Friday.
Sindhu secured a 21-16, 23-21 win over Busanan Ongbamrungphan while Srikanth defeated Kantaphon Wangcharoen 21-19, 21-15 to advance in the competition.
Sindhu looked better in the opening game but in the second game, Ongbamrungphan gave a very tough fight to the Indian player. However, Sindhu held her nerves and went on to win the game by 23-21.
Srikanth also had to do hard yards in the match to progress as Wangcharoen gave a tough competition. Indian shuttler won the first game by 21-19 but in the second game, Srikanth looked in control and dominated his opponent.
Earlier in the day, Indian mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa’s fine run in the ongoing Swiss Open came to a disappointing end after a defeat in the quarter-finals.
Satwiksairaj and Ashwini showed top-notch fighting spirit before going down to World No 13 and No 5 pair -Tan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jing of Malaysia in three sets 17-21, 21-16, 18-21. Satwiksairaj and Ashwini had staged the comeback after losing the first set but the Malaysian duo diffused the Indian attack to seal a place in the semi-finals.
In the singles match, Ajay Jayaram’s fine run at the Swiss Open Super 300 came to an end with the defeat against Thai badminton player Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
The shuttler from Thailand thrashed the India badminton player in two straight sets 21-9, 21-6. Ajay had displayed some sensational performances in the ongoing showpiece event but wasn’t able to recreate the show on Friday. (ANI)