Priyanshu Rajawat outplayed fellow Indian Kidambi Srikanth 21-13, 21-8 to advance to the semi-finals of the ongoing 2023 Australian Open Super 500 in Sydney on Friday.
21-year-old Rajawat, ranked 31st in the world, dominated the proceedings right from the start as he took an 11-6 lead in the first game.
Though Srikanth fought back and reduced the deficit to two points at 11-13, Rajawat pocketed four points in a row to race to a 19-13 lead.
From there on, the former world No 1 seemed to have no answers to the youngster’s gameplay as he lost the match in just 30 minutes.
This win also propelled Rajawat to the first-ever Super 500 event semi-final of his career.
On the other hand, HS Prannoy once again bounced back from a game down to defeat Anthony Ginting of Indonesia.
The 31-year-old lost the first game 16-21 but then stepped up to win the match 16-21, 21-17, 21-14 in a contest which lasted 73 minutes.
Earlier in the day, PV Sindhu crashed out of the tournament following a straight-game loss to Beiwen Zhang of the United States of America.
The double Olympic medallist went down 12-21, 17-21 in 39 minutes.
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