We are about to get underway. Srikanth to serve.
Good start for the Indian. 1-0
1-1
Excellent cross court hit from Srikanth. 2-1
The Dane in front now. 3-2
A good rally ends with Vittinghus taking the Indian aback with a shot aimed at Srikanth’s body. 4-2
Srikanth levels it. 4-4.
The Dane once again up with a two-point lead. 6-4
Its 6-6
Superb cross court hit from the Dane.
Error at the net from Srikanth makes it 8-6 for the Dane.
Long from the Dane there. Leads 10-8
At the interval, in the opening game, it is Vittinghus who leads Srikanth 11-8.
Srikanth needs a few early points after the break to stay in this game.
Wide from Srikanth. Trails by 5 points now. 8-13.
Srikanth makes another error at the net. 9-14 against him.
Srikanth has cut the lead to 2. 12-14
The difference is 4 points now, with that long hit from the Indian. Trails 13-17
Lead cut to 2. 15-17.
Fast, down the line winner from Srikanth. 16-17
Excellent from Srikanth. Has now won 4 points straight to make it 17-17.
That's IN and Srikanth in front now. 18-17.
Vittinghus gets it wrong and Srikanth leads 19-18
19-19
Wide from Vittinghus. but he has challenged it.and he wins it Game point opportunity for the Dane.
Srikanth saves it. 20-20.
Another game point opportunity and Vittingguus converts it. 22-20.
Srikanth seems to have suffered an injury here. Trails 3-4.
How much has that injury affected Srikanth’s game? He now trails 11-6.
Three points for Vittinghus after the break and Srikanth now staring down the barrrel here.
He trails 7-15.
Service error from the Dane. Its 10-17.
The Dane has just looked too good for the Indian in this second game.
Its Vittinguhus who is injured now.
Wide from Vittinghus. 13-19
7 match point opportunities for Vittinghus.
Thats it. Vittinghus beats Srikanth 22-20 21-13
Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of the 2016 Australian Open, that is being played at the Sports Centre in Sydney. It is semi final day today and two Indians will be in the fray.
First up, Kidambi Srikanth will take on Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Vittinghus in the Men’s Singles semifinal. Both players are coming off good straight games win in the quarterfinal. the former defeated Kwang Hee Heo 21-17 21-18 in a 36-minute win while the latter got the better of Sho Sasaki 21-14 21-18 in his quarterfinal. You can catch all the LIVE updates here.
This will be Srikanth's 2nd semifinal of 2016, following the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold, where he went to clinch the title and he will hope to stand on the podium once again in Sydney.
The 23-year-old has faced a torrid time, following that win in Lucknow, having endured 4 Round 1 exits at 4 different Superseries events and so this performance should certainly serve as a positive boost in confidence for him. He missed out on India’s 2016 Thomas Cup campaign last month and it seems like that break has certainly done him a lot of good.
The India leads the head-to-head, having won two of the three contests, one of which came at this very tournament last year, when he prevailed in three games. The last match between the two was at the Indonesia Open last year when Srikanth once again came out trumps in three games.
Can Srikanth make it 3-1 or will the Dane make it 2-2? We will know in a short while.
