Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, Thailand Masters champion Devika Sihag and rising men’s singles player Rounak Chouhan kept India’s title hopes alive by advancing to the semifinals of the US Open Super 300 badminton tournament on Friday.
Srikanth battled past Chinese Taipei’s Liao Jhuo-Fu 21-9, 12-21, 21-8 in the men’s singles quarterfinals, setting up a last-four clash against Japan’s fourth seed Yudai Okimoto.
Rounak continued his dream run by defeating Israel’s Misha Zilberman 23-21, 21-11 in just 38 minutes to reach his maiden BWF World Tour Super 300 semifinal. The youngster will next take on eighth seed Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei for a place in the final.
In the women’s singles, Devika produced another composed display to upset third seed Riko Gunji of Japan 22-20, 21-19. Holding her nerve in the closing stages of both games, the Indian sealed a memorable victory to book a semifinal meeting with Denmark’s second seed Line Christophersen.
Christophersen progressed after defeating India’s Tanvi Sharma 21-16, 11-21, 21-11 in a hard-fought quarterfinal.
India’s campaign also ended for Rakshitha Sree, who went down 15-21, 21-16, 21-12 to Canada’s Rachel Chan despite taking the opening game.
With Srikanth and Rounak placed in opposite halves of the men’s singles draw, India remain in contention for an all-Indian final if both players negotiate their respective semifinal encounters.