Kidambi Srikanth halts HS Prannoy’s dream run to enter Indonesia Masters semis; PV Sindhu to face Yamaguchi

Kidambi Srikanth prevailed over compatriot HS Prannoy in the men’s singles quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters World Tour Super 750 badminton tournament in Bali on Friday.

In a rare last-eight clash between two Indians at a BWF tournament, Srikanth stopped Prannoy's dream run to seal a semi-final spot. World No 15 Srikanth outclassed his compatriot 21-7, 21-18 in 39 minutes to extend his head-to-head record to 5-2.

After knocking out Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Viktor Axelsen of Denmark on Thursday, Prannoy was expected to give Srikanth a tough fight.

The 29-year-old Prannoy began well and took an early 4-2 lead. However, former world No 1 Srikanth reeled off eight consecutive points to move 10-4 up and never looked back, winning the opening game 21-7.

Prannoy stages late fightback but fails to overcome Srikanth

World No 32 Prannoy put up an improved display in the second game and looked like threatening his regular practice partner. Kerala shuttler Prannoy, a former top-10 player, took a 10-5 lead and looked like he would force a decider.

Kidambi Srikanth beat HS Prannoy 21-7, 21-18 in the men's singles quarter-finals on Friday

However, Srikanth, winner of the Indonesian Super Series Premier in 2017, halted Prannoy’s bid for a comeback with a nine-point burst to eventually drive home the advantage.

Srikanth will take on the winner of the clash between Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Thailand) and Danish third seed Anders Antonsen in the semi-finals.

PV Sindhu brushes aside Turkey’s Neslihan Yigit in quarters

Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu recorded a dominant victory over Turkey’s Neslihan Yigit to enter the women’s singles semi-finals.

Third seed and reigning world champion Sindhu notched up a convincing 21-13, 21-10 victory over unseeded Yigit in 35 minutes, her fourth successive win over the Turkish shuttler.

Sindhu will next face top seed Akane Yamaguchi. The diminutive Japanese rallied to down fifth seed Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand 8-21, 21-12, 21-10 in 55 minutes.

Sindhu has a psychological advantage going into Saturday's clash against Yamaguchi as she leads 12-7 head-to-head, which includes her famous win in the Tokyo Olympics quarter-finals.