Sindhu saunters past World No.2 to reach Swiss Open semis

Basel (Switzerland), March 15 (IANS) Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu tamed World No.2 Shixian Wang in straight games to enter the women’s singles semifinals at the $125,000 Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold at St. Jakobshalle here.

Parupalli Kashyap too made to the last four while Saina Nehwal exited the competition.

World No.9 Sindhu took 45 minutes Friday to get past Wang 21-17, 21-15, going up 3-0 over the Chinese in career meetings.

The Indian had last beaten Wang in the World Championships last year. She next plays Wang’s country-woman Sun Yu Saturday.

Sindhu’s eighth-ranked compatriot Saina, however, failed to breach the Chinese wall, going down against World No.3 Yihan Wang 17-21, 12-21 in 38 minutes. Saina now has a 1-7 head-to-head record against the former world champion.

Kashyap made the men’s singles semifinals beating Chinese Taipei’s Tien Chen Chou 21-15, 21- 23, 18-21 in a fierce battle lasting one hour 14 minutes.

The Hyderabadi, who has slipped to 25th position in the rankings, faces 27th-ranked Tian Houwei of China in the last four.