A strong Indian presence at the Swiss Open on Friday was whittled down to just one player reaching the semifinals as B Sai Praneeth reached the final four with a straight-games win.
The Indian, world No 22, defeated France’s Lucas Corvee (ranked 52), 21-13, 21-11 in a match that lasted just 35 minutes. After trailing 3-6 in the first game, Sai Praneeth did not lose the lead even once in the match as he coasted past the finish line.
This will be Sai Praneeth’s first semifinal appearance on the tour since New Zealand Open in May last year.
The 26-year-old will face a tough challenge if he has to reach the final, however, as Olympic champion Chen Long awaits him. The second-seeded Chinese, incidentally, ended an impressive run Subhankar Dey in Basel.
Long won 21-18, 21-17 in a match that was anything but straightforward, lasting 52 minutes despite being a two-game affair. Dey had Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie in the round of 16.
A temporary pairing on the world circuit, Chirag Shetty and Pranaav Jerry Chopra lost out in the men’s doubles quarter-finals. The Indians went down fighting against a much-fancied English pair and sixth seeds Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge, losing 11-21, 26-28 in a 63-minute encounter.
Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy lost to third seeds Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida 21-17, 21-17.
Earlier on Friday, All England champion Chen Yufei ousted Riya Mookerjee 21-10, 21-8 in just 25 minutes. Arjun MR and Maneesha K also lost to Denmark’s Mathias Bay-Smidt and Rikke Soby 19-21, 16-21.
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