Orleans Masters Super 300 semifinal blog: Priyanshu Rajawat reaches final after fine performance

Men’s singles: Magnus Johannesen will take on Priyanshu Rajawat in the final on Sunday. The Indian youngster was in fine form today, will he make it all the way? Join us for the live coverage then.

Men’s singles semifinals: A fine win for Magnus Johannesen as he downs Lei Lan Xi of China in a 71-minute thriller to reach the final. He will face Priyanshu Rajawat.

Men’s singles semifinals: Johannesen has taken this match to a decider.

Men’s singles semifinals: From 9-9, Lei just ran away with the opening game.

Men’s singles semifinals: If you are wondering where you have heard Lei Lan Xi’s name, he defeated Prannoy in the Asia Mixed Team semifinals and played some fabulous badminton. It’s 8-8 in the opening game now.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 21-12 21-9 Nhat Nguyen: Priyanshu Rajawat will take on the winner of Lei Lan Xi vs Magnus Johannesen in the final.

Watch: Such a good rally. The diving get was good but loved that Priyanshu Rajawat backhand crosscourt not long after that.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 21-12 21-9 Nhat Nguyen: Here’s how the second game unfolded.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 21-12 21-9 Nhat Nguyen: A brilliant attacking rally is a fitting way to close this match out. What a lovely performance by the 21-year-old.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 21-12 20-9 Nhat Nguyen: Has just taken his foot off the pedal but plenty of cushion. Really good rally there, Nhat with a nice point.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 21-12 20-7 Nhat Nguyen: One match point saved by Nguyen, but some great hustle by Rajawat in that rally.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 21-12 19-6 Nhat Nguyen: Superb crosscourt whip from Rajawat to get tge serve back, finish line in sight.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 21-12 18-5 Nhat Nguyen: Couple of errors from Priyanshu here.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 21-12 17-3 Nhat Nguyen: A patient rally, one that Nguyen actually controlled too but it goes Rajawat’s way.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 21-12 15-3 Nhat Nguyen: Another winner for Rajawat, superb crosscourt smash. He is running away with this.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 21-12 11-3 Nhat Nguyen: It is all Priyanshu at the moment. Just needs to be solid from here on

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 21-12 9-3 Nhat Nguyen: Medical break for Nguyen, seems to have had his finger jammed.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 21-12 9-3 Nhat Nguyen: Quite a handy lead again, a delightful crosscourt drop winner from Rajawat there.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 21-12 7-2 Nhat Nguyen: “This youngster seems like a star for the future. Doesn’t seem to have a chink in his armour. Decision-making on occasion perhaps.” Good words on Priyanshu by the commentator. He is playing some lovely badminton at the moment, moving Nhat all over the court.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 21-12 4-0 Nhat Nguyen: More joy with his smashes for Priyanshu.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 21-12 Nhat Nguyen: Here’s how the opening game unfolded.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 21-12 Nhat Nguyen: Rajawat’s smash, fittingly, hands him the opening game too. Brilliant smash down the line, catches the line.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 20-12 Nhat Nguyen: Rajawat’s smash sets up a bagful of game points.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 19-11 Nhat Nguyen: Rajawat has the opening game in the bag almost.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 16-10 Nhat Nguyen: Errors exchanged by both.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 15-9 Nhat Nguyen: Terrific defensive block from Priyanshu, turns a smash into a winner. A lucky net cord for him and this is now a handy lead.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 13-9 Nhat Nguyen: The smashes took a while to get going but Priyanshu starting to find a lot of joy with his attacking shots here.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 11-9 Nhat Nguyen: Both players are showing fabulous touches at the net. This has been a good contest so far after a sluggish start by the Indian.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 8-8 Nhat Nguyen: A good little run by Nguyen.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 7-5 Nhat Nguyen: Another fabulous rally! Rajawat wins the point after some great defensive work earlier.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 5-5 Nhat Nguyen: A brilliant rally and Rajawat levels things up. A 30-shot exchange that the Indian dominated but Nguyen showing his defensive prowess again.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 2-5 Nhat Nguyen: A roar after nailing a straight smash by Priyanshu. Should fire up his radar.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat 2-5 Nhat Nguyen: The commentator tells us there is no drift in the arena. Not a good start by the Indian, making soft errors at the start. Yet to get going here.

MS SF, Priyanshu Rajawat vs Nhat Nguyen: Here’s how the players made it to the final four.

Men’s singles semifinals, Priyanshu Rajawat vs Nhat Nguyen: This is the first meeting between the two. Nhat’s been a regular on tour for a while now and can frustrate his opponents with his rallying style.

Men’s singles semifinals, Priyanshu Rajawat vs Nhat Nguyen: Here’s how the draw looks. It was not a good week to be a seeded player in Orleans.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Indian badminton on BWF World Tour.

Today we will be tracking Orleans Masters Super 300 in France, where Priyanshu Rajawat plays the biggest match of his fledgling international career yet. The 21-year-old reached his first semifinals at this level after a good run this week, where he earlier stunned top seed Kenta Nishimoto in the 2nd round. He takes on Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen today.

Orleans Masters Super 300: Priyanshu Rajawat through to men’s singles semi-finals

Screenshots in the blog via BWF TV / Tournament Software / Viacom18