Defending men's champion Kidambi Srikanth suffered a shock defeat but Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu did not face any trouble as she sailed into the women's singles final with a straight-game victory on an exciting day in Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Lucknow on Saturday.
Ninth seed B Sai Praneeth, who had clinched the Canada Open Grand Prix last year, knocked out third seed Srikanth 15-21, 21-10, 21-17 in almost an hour's men's singles match at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor stadium.
In the women's singles, Sindhu, who had clinched her maiden Super Series Premier title at China Open and reached the finals at Hong Kong last year, defeated Indonesian fourth seed Fitriani Fitriani 21-11, 21-19 in a 38-minute contest.
The 21-year-old from Hyderabad will face Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska in the summit clash. The 17-year-old Mariska, who is a two-time silver medallist at World Junior Championships, shocked higher-ranked compatriot Hanna Ramadini, seeded sixth, 21-19, 21-14 in another match.
Among other Indians, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy also dished out some gritty performances to guide India to the finals of the women's and mixed doubles events in the US$ 120,000 tournament.
Playing only their second tournament together, Ashwini and B Sumeeth Reddy scored a stunning 19-21, 21-18, 21-18 win over London Olympics bronze medallists and top seeds Joachim Fischer Nielsen and Christinna Pedersen from Denmark in the second semi-finals.
Earlier, Ashwini and Sikki reached their maiden final of a Grand Prix Gold event after seeing off fellow Indian combination of Sanjana Santosh and Arathi Sara Sunil 18-21, 21-12, 21-13 in a hard-fought women's doubles contest.
The 23-year-old Sikki then combined with her mixed doubles partner Pranaav Jerry Chopra to edge out fifth seeded Danish pair of Mathias Christiansen and Sara Thygesen 21-18, 21-13 in the first semi-final match.
Ashwini and Sikki, who had reached the finals at Welsh International last month, will now lock horns with top seeds and World No 2 Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Christinna Pedersen. The Rio Olympics silver medallist pair from Denmark knocked out third seeded Malaysians Yin Loo Lim and Yap Cheng Wen 23-21, 21-14 in another semi-finals.
India are thus assured of the mixed doubles crown as Sikki and Pranaav, seeded second, who won two Grand Prix tournaments at Brazil and Russia last year, will now face seventh seeded compatriots Ashwini and Sumeeth in the final.
India were also assured of the men's singles title after Praneeth set up a summit clash with Hong Kong Super Series finalist and National champion Sameer, seeded 8th, who produced better court coverage and placement to outwit an erratic Harsheel Dani, 15th seed, 21-15 21-11 in another semi-finals match.
In the men's doubles, eighth seeds Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han of Chinese Taipei took out Indonesian seventh seeded combo of Berry Angriawan and Hardianto Hardianto 21-16, 21-17 to reach the finals.
Top seeds Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen of Denmark also staved off a spirited challenge from the fourth seeded Indonesian duo of Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto 11-21, 21-17, 21-19 in a match that lasted for an hour and four minutes.
Image: P V Sindhu
Photograph: Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images
