Ho Chi Minh City [Vietnam], September 30 (ANI): Indian shuttlers N Sikki Reddy and Rohan Kapoor defeated Malaysia's Cheah Yee See and Chan Peng Soon on Friday to advance to the mixed doubles semifinals of the Vietnam Open 2022.
The Indian team defeated Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See of Malaysia in a sweep in the quarterfinals.
The Indian pair, which came into the BWF Super 100 badminton event winning the India Chhattisgarh International Challenge 2022 last week, took 39 minutes to defeat their higher-ranked opponents 21-19, 21-17 in the quarter-finals at the Nguyen Du Cultural Sports Club in Ho Chi Minh City.
Until the first break, there was little that separated the two teams. From the scores 11-11, the Malaysians stepped up to build a three-point at 17-14. Nevertheless, N Sikki Reddy and Rohan Kapoor won seven of the following nine points to make it 1-0.
The second game continued to be a close contest with the Indian pair trailing 11-10 at the break. As in the first game, a series of consecutive points from N Sikki Reddy and Rohan Kapoor ultimately helped them seal the contest.
N Sikki Reddy and Rohan Kapoor will take on the world No. 35 pair of Lisa Ayu Kusumawati and Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto of Indonesia in the semi-finals on Saturday. Reddy and Kapoor are India's only remaining challenge at the Vietnam Open.
World championships bronze medallist B Sai Praneeth, junior world No. 2 Anupama Upadhyaya and Thomas Cup-winner Priyanshu Rajawat crashed out early in the tournament.
B Sai Praneeth, a former world championship bronze medalist, continued to struggle as he was knocked out in the second round of the Vietnam Open 2022 after losing to fellow countryman Rithvik Sanjeevi Satish Kumar on Wednesday in the men's singles competition.
Playing on the badminton courts at Nguyen Du Cultural Sports Club in Ho Chi Minh City, India's B Sai Praneeth, 40th in the badminton world rankings, went down to world No. 225 Rithvik Sanjeevi Satish Kumar 21-17, 18-21, 13-21 in one hour and three minutes. (ANI)
