Prannoy reaches semifinals of Indonesian Masters

Palembang (Indonesia): Indian shuttler H S Prannoy reached the semifinals but it was curtains for compatriot B Sai Praneeth in the men's singles competition of the USD 12,500 Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold here on Friday.

Fifth seed Prannoy, who finished runners-up at the USD 50,000 Vietnam Grand Prix in Hochiminh City last week, set up a semifinal clash with Malaysia's Daren Liew following a 21-13 21-19 win over local shuttler Riyanto Subagja in a 37-minute quarterfinal clash.

However, it was all over for his training partner, B Sai Praneeth as the Indian suffered a 15-21 16-21 loss to ninth seed Liew in the other semifinal clash at the GOR Jakabaring.

Praneeth had beaten compatriot Ajay Jayaram 21-16 14-21 23-21 in the pre-quarterfinals yesterday but he was no match against Liew, a former top 10 player.

The 22-year-old Prannoy, who had beaten 16th seed Sukamta Evert 21-18 13-21 21-15 in the earlier round, put up a dominating performance in the opening round but his rival Riyanto came back strongly in the second as he caught up with the Indian at 15-15.

However, the Indian held his nerve to stave off the challenge from Riyanto as he sealed the issue in his favour with a couple of points from 19-19.

Prannoy had an upper hand against Liew during their only encounter during the 2012 Malaysia Open GP Gold.