Rajawat enters semis of Syed Modi tournament

NEW DELHI: Young Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat progressed to the men’s singles semifinals with a straight-game win over Alwi Farhan of Indonesia at the Syed Modi International badminton tournament on Friday.

The 21-year-old from Madhya Pradesh, who won the Orleans Masters Super 300 this season, registered a 21-15, 21-16 win over world junior champion Farhan in a 49-minute quarterfinal clash at the BWF World Tour Super 300 tournament.

World no. 32 and seventh seed Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa, who had clinched the Nates International Challenge and Abu Dhabi Masters Super 100 this year, secured a 21-19, 21-8 win over Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who are ranked 19th in the world and fourth seed here.

Tanisha and Ashwini will likely face top seeded Japanese pair of Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota in the semifinals. In the men’s singles match, Priyanshu made a good start, leading 5-0. Though Farhan narrowed down the deficit to 14-15, the Indian reeled off five straight points to seal the opening game comfortably.

In the second game, Priyanshu once again opened up a 8-3 advantage but the 18-year-old Indonesian turned the tables, taking a slim 11-10 lead at the break.

Farhan swelled the lead to 15-12 but Priyanshu regrouped just in time to take nine of the next 10 points to seal the issue.