Malaysia Masters GP: Sindhu, Jayaram in semis; Kashyap out

HYDERABAD: PV Sindhu and Ajay Jayaram stormed into the semifinals of the Malaysia Masters GP while fancied shuttlers Parupalli Kashyap and Sai Praneeth crashed out in the third round on Friday.
Despite facing stiff opposition in the first game, Sindhu eased past Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand 23-21, 21-9 in the women's singles quarterfinals.
Sindhu saved two game points before prevailing over the Thai in the first game.The lanky shuttler was in full flow in the second, leaving no chance for the opponent to make a comeback. She will now face Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in the semifinals on Saturday. Sindhu had lost to the Japanese teen at the Hong Kong Open in November.
"It was a good win against Porntip. The first game was a bit tough but the second was easy. Overall I played well today and I hope to do the same tomorrow," Sindhu said.
Meanwhile, it was left to unseeded Jayaram to keep the Indian challenge alive in men's singles as third seed Kashyap lost to Derek Wong Zi Liang of Indonesia 21-13, 17-21, 13-21 and 13th seed Sai Praneeth went down to Lee Hyun Il of Korea 15-21, 17-21.
Jayaram defeated Aditya Prakash 21-6, 17-21, 21-14 in the third round and later pulled off a hard fought victory against Daren Liew of Malaysia 21-16, 21-23, 21-8 in the quarterfinals.
"My previous two encounters against Liew hadn't gone too well. So I knew I had to give my best to get through. But I did not get off to a great start.Still I managed to get more aggressive midway through the first game and that move paid off," said Jayaram.
Jayaram, however, wasted two match points in the second. Leading 20-18, Jayaram failed to deliver the knockout punch allowing Liew to take the game at 23-21.