India's H S Prannoy continued his impressive run, sailing into the semi-finals of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 badminton tournament with a straight-games win over world number 13 Rasmus Gemke of Denmark, in Jakarta, on Friday.
A little over a month after his heroic win over Gemke in the decisive fifth rubber against Denmark, which ensured India's entry into the Thomas Cup final, Prannoy produced yet another finely-crafted performance in the quarter-finals to outwit Gemke 21-14, 21-12 in 40 minutes.
It is the second semi-final appearance for the world number 23 at the Indonesia event. He reached the last four in the 2017 edition during which he stunned former Olympic gold medallist Chen Long and Malaysian great Lee Chong Wei en route the semi-finals.
Prannoy, who reached the Swiss Open Super 300 final in March, will next face China's Zhao Jun Peng.
Coming into the match with a 2-2 head-to-head count, Prannoy did not put a foot wrong as he played some angled cross-court shots and reverse slices to good effect to keep a firm grip on the match.
The match saw short rallies, with Gemke bothered by a knee issue.
Prannoy waited for his opponent to make mistakes and unleashed his attacking returns whenever there was an opportunity.
The result was Prannoy galloped to a 5-0 lead before entering the break with a 11-7 cushion. He kept things under check to lead the first game all throughout.
In the end, a service fault handed the Indian six game points and he sealed it with a smash to his opponent's forehand corner.
The first half of the second game was a roller-coaster ride as Gemke produced a superb fightback. He started moving well and clawed back at 6-6 with a smash after trailing 3-6 initially.
Prannoy kept the pressure on his opponent but Gemke again drew parity at 9-9 with a prompt net shot before the Indian ensured a two-point cushion at the interval.
Prannoy continued to dominate the rallies after the break as his precise returns earned him points. A similar shot took the Indian to eight match-points and he sealed victory after Gemke returned into the net.
