Swiss Open 2019: Sai Praneeth enters semi-finals; Subhankar Dey exits

Former Singapore Open champion B Sai Praneeth continued his run to enter the semi-finals of the $150,000 Yonex Swiss Open 2019 but Subhankar Dey’s campaign came to an end at Basel, Switzerland on Friday. Sai defeated World No. 52 Lucas Corvee 21-13, 21-11 in 35 minutes and is now the last Indian standing at this BWF World Super 300 tournament.

2018 SaarLorLux Open winner Subhankar Dey’s giant-killing spree came to an end at the hands of the second seed and reigning Olympic champion Chen Long. A day after knocking out the fifth seed and 2018 Asian Games gold medallist Jonatan Christie, Dey fell 18-21, 17-21 to the former World No. 1 Chinese ace.

Chen Long will now go on to meet Sai who had earlier upset the eighth seed and defending champion Sameer Verma 21-14, 22-20 in the second round. Sai won a round at the All England Open last week and has carried on from there.

Chen Long will, however, be a tough proposition for the Indian especially after beating the World No. 22 in straight games in the first round of the Indonesia Masters at the start of the season.

In men’s doubles, national champions Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Chirag Shetty bowed out with a tough 11-21, 26-28 loss to the sixth seeds Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge. The Indians, qualifiers at this tournament, had upset the second seeds Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the first round.

In women’s doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy were beaten 17-21, 17-21 by the third seeds Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida. The mixed doubles team of Arjun MR and K Maneesha lost 19-21, 16-21 to the Danish duo of Mathias Bay-Smidt and Rikke Soby.

In women’s singles, Indian youngster Riya Mookerjee was outplayed 10-21, 8-21 by the top seed and All England Open champion Chen Yufei.