Senior National Badminton Championship: Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap ease into semis

Image Courtesy: Reuters

Defending champion Saina Nehwal stormed into the semi-final of the Senior National Badminton Championship after easing past Mumbai's Neha Pandit in straight games in Guwahati on Friday. 

The 28-year-old from Haryana looked dominant throughout the one-sided quarter-final match as she posted a comfortable 21-10, 21-10 win over Neha. 

With the win, London Olympics medallist Nehwal has now set up a clash against 22-year-old Nagpur qualifier Vaishnavi Bhale for a place in the finals of the tournament. 

In the men's singles event, 2012 champion Parupalli Kashyap and ace Indian shuttler Sourabh Verma too booked their places in the last-four of the tournament after comfortably winnings their respective quarter-final clashes. 

While Kashyap registered a convincing 21-18, 21-16 win against Bodhit Joshi to set up a clash against Lakshya Sen later in the day,  two-time former champion Sourabh bounced back from a game down to clinch a hard-fought 21-11, 21-23, 21-18 win over B Sai Praneeth in the quarter-final.

Sourabh will now square off with qualifier Kaushal Dharmamer of Mumbai for a place in the summit showdown. 

Earlier, Nehwal and Kashyap both had refused to play their pre-quarterfinal clashes at the Assam Badminton Academy courts due to uneven surface. However, they later agreed to play their matches after a new wooden court was laid down at the TRP indoor stadium.