Senior National Badminton Championship: PV Sindhu eyes final berth

Rio Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu will look to book her place in the finals of the 83rd Senior National Badminton Championship when she locks horns with local sensation Ashmita Chaliha of Assam in the semi-finals of the tournament in Guwahati on Friday. 

On Thursday, the Hyderabadi shuttler continued her rich vein of form to sweep aside Riya Mookerjee 21-16, 21-7 in a one-sided quarter-final clash that lasted just 28 minutes and book her place in last-four. 

Sindhu kicked off her campaign with a convincing 21-11, 21-13 triumph over Malvika Bansod of Nagpur in the opening round of the tournament earlier in the morning yesterday. 

Ashmita, on the other hand, kept her cool as she first defeated Vaidehi Choudhari 21-13, 15-21, 21-12 in the opening match before bouncing back from a game down to secure a 16-21, 21-17, 21-19 win over Aakarshi Kashyap in a thrilling quarter-final clash. 

With the win, the Assamese tennis star not only set up a clash against Sindhu but also booked her maiden semifinal spot. 

Meanwhile, defending champion Saina Nehwal cemented her place in the last eight of the women's singles event after clinching a straight games win in a late pre-quarterfinal clash against Pune's Shruti Mundada.

Nehwal hardly broke the sweat as she sealed a comfortable 21-11, 21-10 win over Shruti to set up a quarter-final clash against Neha Pandit on Friday. 

In the men's singles event, third-seed Parupalli Kashyap and second-placed B. Sai Praneeth too stormed into the last eight of the tournament after winning their respective pre-quarterfinal clashes. 

While Kashyap rebounded strongly from game down to defeat Rahul Yadav 20-22, 21-17, 21-17, Praneeth thrashed Rohit Yadav 21-10, 21-10 to set up a match for a place in semi-finals against Sourabh Verma.