Praneeth eases into Vietnam Challenge semis

Sai Praneeth

Hanoi: Former national junior champion Sai Praneeth moved into the semifinals of the Vietnam International Challenge with a straight games win over his Thai opponent. On Saturday, Praneeth will take on top seed Derek Wong of Singapore for a spot in the final.Fellow-Indians Tarun Kona and Arun Vishnu will also be seen in action on Saturday, as they will take on Ricky Suwardi/ Muhammad Ulinuha of Indonesia in the semifinals.On Friday, fourth seed Praneeth eased past Thammasin Sitthikom of Thailand in 40 minutes, winning 21-15 21-15. Seventh seeds Tarun Kona and Arun Vishnu were just as authoritative in a 21-17 21-19 victory over Chu-En Huang/ Chia Yu Lin in 32 minutes.However, several Indian pairs bit the dust. Fifth seeds Akshay Dewalkar/ Pranav Chopra went down in a close three-setter against the second seeded Indonesians Gideon Fernaldi/ Rahmanto Putra 21-14 13-21 21-18, while the women’s doubles pair of Sikki Reddy/ Aparna Balan and the mixed pair of Arun Vishnu/ Aparna Balan too crashed out in three games.