Korea Open: Kidambi Srikanth, PV Sindhu Enter Semifinals

Top Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the semifinals of the Korea Open Super 500 badminton tournament with contrasting wins on Friday. Third seed Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, notched up her 17th win over familiar foe Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan 21-10 21-16 in the women's singles quarterfinals. She will face either Japan's Saena Kawakami or second seeded Korean An Seyoung next.

In a battle between two former world number ones, it was World Championships silver medallist Srikanth, who rode on his power and precision to outwit local hope Son Wan Ho 21-12 18-21 21-12 in a men's singles quarterfinal match that lasted just over an hour.

Srikanth had a 4-7 record against the Korean, having lost to him on last three occasions.

However, the Indian played better badminton on Friday to come up trumps against an opponent, who is coming back to international badminton after a two-year hiatus.

The Indian, seeded fifth, will next face the winner of the match between Thailand's eighth seed, Kunlavut Vitidsarn and third seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia.

In women's singles, Sindhu had no issues in disposing off Busanan, whom she had beaten at Swiss Open final last month. The Thai lead 5-2 in the opening game but after that it was a Sindhu show as she kept the match under her tight grip.

Leading 11-7, Sindhu produced an eight-point burst to pull away from the Thai and grab the lead in the match.

Things were similar after the change of sides as Sindhu held a 8-2 lead and kept moving ahead as the Thai crumbled.

In men's singles, Srikanth showed better control as he dominated the short rallies to move to a comfortable 11-6 lead at the first interval and though Son Wan Ho made it 12-14, the Indian