It was a double blow for India in the women's singles quarter-finals in the USD750,000 Crown Group Australia Open Superseries in Sydney on Friday when defending champion Saina Nehwal was ousted by China's Sun Yu in three games.
In the repeat of last year's final the sixth seeded Chinese edged out the Indian in a 78-minute thriller to prevail 21-17, 10-21, 21-17 and end India's challenge in the women's singles.
Earlier fifth seed P.V. Sindhu also fell by the wayside. The fourth ranked Sindhu, Olympics silver medallist in Rio last year, could not sustain the momentum against stop seed Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei who won the hour-long encounter 10-21, 22-20, 21-16.
Tzu Ying will face Japan's fifth ranked and third seed Akane Yamaguchi who crushed China's reigning world junior champion Chen Yufei 21-15, 21-14.
Nozomi Okuhara, who defeated Olympics and world champion Carolina Marin in the first round continued with her fine form in Sydney. The 12th ranked Yamaguchi defeated compatriot Sayaka Takahashi 21-12, 23-21 and will meet Sun Yu for a place in Sunday's final.
K. Srikanth, winner of the BCA Indonesia Open last week stayed on course for his third successive superseries final. Srikanth beat compatriot B. Sai Praneeth 25-23, 21-17 and in the process exacted sweet revenge on his teammate who beat him in the Singapore Open final in April.
Srikanth will square up against China's fourth seed Shi Yuqi in Saturday's semi-finals. The Chinese youngster crushed defending champion Hans-Kristian Vittinghus of Denmarj 21-17, 21-12 in 40 minutes.
Asian champion Chen Long also advanced to the last four but not before a 78 minute struggle against Lin Dan in an all-China quarter-final, Chen Long, the reigning Olympics and world champion prevailed 21-16, 12-21, 23-21 and will meet Korean veteran Lee Hyun-ll – a 17-21, 21-15, 21-18 winner over Tian Houwei of China.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men's singles
K. Srikanth (Ind) beat B. Sai Praneeth (Ind) 25-23, 21-17
Shi Yuqi (Chn) beat Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (Den) 21-17, 21-12
Chen Long (Chn) beat Lin Dan (Chn) 21-16, 12-21, 23-21
Lee Hyun II (Kor) beat Tan Houwei (Chn) 17-21, 21-15, 21-18
Men's Doubles
Hendra Setiawan-Tan Boon Heong (Ina/Mas) beat Takuto Inoue-Yuki Kaneko (Jpn) 21-14, 21-12
Liu Cheng-Zhang Nan (Chn) beat Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi (Mas) 14-21, 21-12, 21-15
Takashi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda (Jpn) beat Chen Hung Ling-Wang Chi-Lin (Tpe) 21-18, 21-19
Lu Ching-yao-Yang Po-han (Tpe) beat Choi Solgyu-Kim Dukyoung (Kor) 21-16, 21-18
Women's Singles
Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe) beat P.V. Sindhu (Ind) 10-21, 22-20, 21-16
Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) beat Chen Yufei (Chn) 21-15, 21-14
Sun Yu (Chn) beat Saina Nehwal (Ind) 21-17, 19-21, 21-17
Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) beat Sayaka Takahashi (Jpn) 21-12, 23-21
Women's Doubles
Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi (Jpn) beat Shiho Tanaka-Koharu Yonemoto (Jpn) 21-16, 18-21, 21-16
Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota (Jpn) beat Chang Ye-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) 10-21, 26-24 21-16
Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan (Chn) beat Bao Yixian-Tang Jinhua (Chn) 21-17, 20-22, 21-18
Kamilla Rytter Juhl-Christinna Pedersen (Den) beat Kim Hye-rin-Yoo Hae-won (Kor) 21-11, 15-21, 23-21
Mixed Doubles
Zheng Siwei-Chen Qingchen (Chn) beat Yugo Kobayashi-Misaki Matsutomo (Jpn) 21-19, 21-13
Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping (Chn) beat Chris Adcock-Gabrielle Adcock (Eng) 22-20, 21-15
Kim Dukyoung-Kim Ha-na (Kor) beat Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) 21-12, 21-17
Praveen Jordan-Debby Susanto (Ina) beat Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See (Mas) 21-8, 21-17
