PV Sindhu makes semi-finals; Kidambi Srikanth crashes out

NEW DELHI: Indian badminton star PV Sindhu made the women's singles semi-finals at the Spain Masters 2023 BWF Super 300 badminton tournament after overpowering Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt 21-14, 21-17 in the quarters on Friday. The first game of the match was close, PV Sindhu won six straight points to end it and take the lead.

In the second game, Blichfeldt challenged Sindhu and quickly built a 12-6 lead. However, the two-time Olympian from India tied the score at 16 all before winning the match in straight games. It was Sindhu's sixth win over the Dane, whose only win over the Indian shuttler came at the Thailand Open two years back. Before the latest clash, the two players last met in the opening round of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics - a match which the Indian badminton player won.

PV Sindhu will play USA's Beiwen Zhang or Singapore shuttler Yeo Jia Min in the semi-finals on Saturday. Meanwhile, Kidambi Srikanth crashed out from the men's singles competition following an 18-21, 15-21 loss to top-seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in his final eight fixture.

Former No. 1 Srikanth battled the Japanese shuttler head-to-head in the opening game and fell behind Nishimoto by one point, 16-17. Nevertheless, the Indian badminton player lost it at a critical moment, falling behind 1-0. Srikanth, seeded fifth in the tournament, submitted the second game without much resistance, as Nishimoto wrapped up a win in a match that lasted for 41 minutes with ease.