- Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth will compete in the semi-finals of their respective events of the Denmark Open on Saturday, 20 October.
- Saina will play world no 19 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia at 6:30pm IST (tentatively).
- Srikanth will take on Japan’s Kento Momota at 4:30pm IST (tentatively).
India's Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth stormed into the semi-finals of the Denmark Open with hard-fought victories over Nozomi Okuhara and Sameer Verma, respectively.
Saina, ranked 10th, recovered after the losing the first game to beat familiar foe and world number seven Okuhura of Japan 17-21, 21-16, 21-12 in the quarter-final lasting 58 minutes on Friday night.
The final point of the match was a long rally which ended with the Japanese finding the net. It was a morale boosting for the Indian star, having lost her previous three meetings to Okuhara including the most recent one in Korea last month.
Saina had also lost to the 2017 World Champion during the team event at the Asian Games in August.
Overall, their head-to-head record stands at 7-4 in the Indian's favour. Saina next faces world number 19 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia.
Kidambi Wins All Indian Quarter-Final
Srikanth booked a spot in the semi-finals after beating fellow Indian Sameer Verma 22-20, 19-21, 23-21. The World Number 6, who has struggled for form this season, triumphed after a gruelling encounter.
Srikanth and Verma led at different stages in the first game, until the former looked set to wrap it up at 20-18. However, Verma caught up to take the game beyond 20-20, before Srikanth clinched it within two points.
In the second game, Srikanth put himself in a great position to finish the match in two games when he was leading at 15-11. However, Verma didn’t let the game slip away and drew parity at 16-16. He went on to win the game 21-19.
The momentum seemed to have shifted in Verma’s way as he stayed in the lead for the most part of the third game. The unseeded player was in the driver’s seat when he was leading at 17-13. But, Srikanth held his nerve and fought back. He leveled scores at 18-18 before winning the third game 23-21.
Srikanth will take on Japan’s Kento Momota in the semi-finals on Saturday.
In the women's doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy's spirited campaign came to an end with a loss to top seeds, Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota, in the quarterfinals.
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