Crasto-Kapila enter Vietnam Open semifinals

HO CHI MINH CITY: India's mixed doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila progressed to the semifinals of the Vietnam Open with a thrilling win in the Super 100 badminton tournament here on Friday.

Seeded sixth, Dhruv and Tanisha eked out a come-from-behind 14-21, 21-10, 21-14 win over fellow Indians Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath, seeded top, in the quarterfinals that lasted 44 minutes.

Tharun Mannepalli's impressive run, however, came to an end as he went down 13-21, 13-21 against Japan's Shogo Ogawa in the men's singles quarterfinals.

Crasto and Kapila took time to get into the groove as Sathish and Aadya dominated the opening game.

Crasto and Kapila then got their act together, opening up an 11-6 lead at the break and held on to the advantage after resumption to roar back into the match.

The decider was a tough battle in the initial part, but Crasto and Kapila slowly moved ahead from 8-7 to close out the match without much ado.