India’s world championship medallists PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen continued their good run at the Syed Modi International 2024 badminton by winning their quarter-final matches in Lucknow on Friday.
Sindhu, 18th in the badminton rankings, defeated world No. 118 Dai Wang of the People’s Republic of China 21-15, 21-17 in 48 minutes.
The Indian badminton player overcame a slow start but asserted her dominance in the middle phases of both games. In the opener, Sindhu turned a slender 9-8 advantage into a commanding 16-10 lead before sealing the game.
The second game followed a similar script. Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, led 6-5 early on but shifted gears to surge ahead 15-8.
Despite a spirited fightback from Dai Wang, who narrowed the gap to 16-15, Sindhu’s decisive late push ensured she wrapped up the match comfortably.
This will be Sindhu’s second semi-final of the 2024 badminton season. The former world champion, looking for her title on the BWF World Tour since 2022, will take on rising star Unnati Hooda for a place in the final.
Unnati Hooda, who stunned the fourth seed Pornpicha Choeikeewong of Thailand in the round of 16, breezed past Ishika Jaiswal of the USA with a 21-16, 21-9 scoreline to enter the semi-finals.
The 17-year-old Unnati Hooda, who became the youngest Indian shuttler to win a BWF Super 100 World Tour title by clinching the Odisha Open in 2022, will face PV Sindhu for the first time in her career.
In the men’s singles, Paris 2024 Olympics semi-finalist Lakshya Sen, 14th in the badminton rankings, registered a 21-8, 21-19 victory over compatriot Meiraba Luwang Maisnam.
Top-seeded Sen, looking for his first title on the BWF World Tour since winning the Canada Open in July 2023, will face Shogo Ogawa of Japan for a spot in the final.
Paris 2024 Olympian Tanisha Crasto and her mixed doubles partner Dhruv Kapila defeated Malaysia’s Loo Bing Kun-HO Lo Ee 21-16, 21-13 to advance to the semis. Tanisha Crasto will also feature in the women’s doubles with Ashwini Ponnappa later in the day.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Gayatri Gopichand-Treesa Jolly registered a clinical 21-8, 21-15 win over Malaysia’s GO Pei Kee and Teoh Mei Xing in their women’s doubles quarter-finals.
Priyanshu Rajawat, the seeded second in the men’s singles at the BWF Super 300 tournament, will be in action later in the day.
Syed Modi International 2024 badminton: Day 4 India results
Mixed doubles
- Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran (THA) bt Sathish Kumar Karunakaran-Aadya Variyath 21-16, 21-4
- Dhruv Kapila-Tanisha Crasto bt Loo Bing Kun-Ho Lo Ee (MAL) 21-16, 21-13
Women’s singles
- PV Sindhu bt Dai Wang (CHN) 21-15, 21-17
- Unnati Hooda bt Ishika Jaiswal (USA) 21-16, 21-9
- Wu Luo Yu (CHN) bt Shriyanshi Valishetty 20-22, 21-14, 21-19
- Lalinrat Chaiwan (THA) bt Tasnim MIR 21-13, 21-15
Men’s singles
- Shogo Ogawa (JPN) bt Ayush Shetty 21-7, 21-14
- Lakshya Sen bt Meiraba Luwang MAISNAM 21-8, 21-19
Women’s doubles
- Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand bt Go Pei Kee-Teoh Mei Xing (MAL) 21-8, 21-15
