New Zealand Open 2018, Men's Singles Quarterfinal: B Sai Praneeth vs Niluka Karunaratne, Live Match Updates

And that brings us to the end of this live coverage. Do join us during the live coverage of Sameer Verma vs Lin Dan, which will be in sometime.

That was a show of brutal domination from Sai. He never relinquished control and absolutely stamped his authority throughout the match.

Sai thus advances to the semi-finals.

Sai converts on his second match point and wraps this up 21-7, 21-9 in just 28 minutes!!

One match point saved

12 match points for the Indian!

20-8

19-6 now

Sai needs 2 more points for the win

It's 18-6 now

17-6 to the Indian at present

Sai is racing towards the finish line now!

16-5 for the Indian now

14-4 now after the Sri Lankan gets another point.

No stopping Sai, who has looked in control of this match right from the start!

It's 13-3 now for the Indian.

11-3 to Sai going into the midgame interval

Third point for the Sri Lankan in this game.

He now trails 3-9

Sai adds a couple more points to lead 8-2

6-2 in favour of the Indian presently

Sai is up 5-1

Karunaratne gets a point here.

1-4

Just like the first game, Sai is steadily building a big lead.

3-0

Sai has simply picked up from where he left.

It's 2-0 to the Indian in Game 2

Sai wraps up the first game 21-7

Sai has 14 game points now.

20-6

12-point advantage for the Indian!

18-6

And the momentum is firmly with Sai yet again.

It's 17-5 to the Indian

Sai doesn't give him any chance to build a rhythm and makes it a 15-5 lead

Yet another point for the Sri Lankan and he now trails 5-14

The Sri Lankan stops the Sai march and pulls back a couple of points.

4-13

Sai adds 2 quick points after the break and extends his lead to 13-2

Sai heads into the midgame interval with an 11-2 lead

The Sri Lankan gets another point to trail 2-10

It's 10-1 in Sai's favour

Karunaratne is finally on the board!

1-8

And 8-0 as well

What a start for Sai!

He leads 7-0

6-0 to the Indian

And it's 5-0

Points are coming fast to Sai!

4-0

It's 3-0 to the Indian

Sai makes a strong start and leads 2-0

First point to Sai Praneeth

The match is about to begin!

Hello and welcome to Sportskeeda's live coverage of the New Zealand Open. Today, World No. 18 B Sai Praneeth will take on Niluka Karunaratne of Sri Lanka in the quarterfinal of men's singles.

Earlier, Sai Praneeth had sailed through the first round, beating Israel’s Misha Zilberman 21-11, 21-19. Then, he needed just 46 minutes to see off World No. 42 Daren Liew 21-18, 21-17 in the pre-quarters.

The Indian fifth seed today takes on World No. 129 Niluka Karunaratne. Sai should not have much of a problem in making it to the semis but the Lankan can prove to be a tricky customer. It promises to be an exciting contest. Stay tuned.

New Zealand Open 2018, Men's Singles Quarterfinal: B Sai Praneeth vs Niluka Karunaratne, Live Match Updates

Sai wraps it up 21-7, 21-9 in just 28 minutes!