Rio Olympics 2016 silver medallist PV Sindhu cruised to the semi-final of the Hong Kong Open Superseries on Friday after getting past Japan's Akane Yamaguchi in straight sets 21-12, 21-19. The match lasted just 37 minutes.
Sindhu, 22, now takes on Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand on Saturday in the semis.
Ratchanok defeated Michelle Li of Canada in her quarterfinal match earlier on Friday.
Sindhu displayed a substantially improved performance and played aggressively throughout the first game, and it helped her get a momentum early on.
At one point, in the second game, Sindhu was trailing but soon the Indian shuttler bounced back in style and matched the pace of her opponent. The last few points saw a see-saw battle between the duo but it was Sindhu who proved superior and bagged the match to advance.
Sindhu has won just once out of five meeting with Ratchanok so far. Can she get her second win on Saturday?
Indian star shuttler, Saina Nehwal, meanwhile is already out of the competition after losing in the pre-quarters on Thursday against Chen Yufei of China.
(with IANS inputs)
