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2014 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist RMV Gurusaidutt and women’s singles top seed Tanvi Lad kept the Indian Tricolour flying high at the Yonex Welsh International 2017 by reaching the semi-finals of this Future Series tournament in Cardiff, Wales on Friday.
Gurusaidutt displayed tremendous resilience and fighting spirit after losing the first game narrowly to the 333rd ranked Ben Torrance of Scotland in his quarter-final match. The former World No. 19 needed 49 minutes to notch up the 19-21, 21-18, 21-17 win over the Scotsman at the Sport Wales National Centre on his way to the semi-finals.
Next up for the Indian qualifier is the top seed Sam Parsons, who is ranked 89th.
This is the second semi-final in three BWF tournaments for the 27-year-old Indian since his injury comeback in October. He had a torrid time with an ankle injury and a subsequent surgery that kept him out of action for nearly a year.
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After the US Open in July last year, he returned hastily at the Thailand Open in May. Gurusaidutt had to stay out of competitive play for another five months before returning at the Bulgarian International in October, which he won as a qualifier.
He followed it up with a quarter-final finish at the Scottish Grand Prix in November. The performances shot his ranking up by around 700 places to 277th.
Also read: BWF Rankings: Big jump for RMV Gurusaidutt after Bulgarian International title
Lad advances, Rajarajan retires
World No. 91 Tanvi Lad continues her smooth progress at this tournament. She needed 32 minutes to prevail over the eighth seeded Manon Krieger, 21-15, 21-18 and set up a semi-final clash with the third seeded Jordan Hart of Wales.
Lad has not dropped a game in the three matches she has played so far at this tournament. The 24-year-old, who won a round at the World Championships in August, came to this event after reaching the quarter-finals of the Scottish Open last month.
Meanwhile, curtains came down on the campaign of the third Indian at this tournament -- the 21-year-old Karan Rajan Rajarajan. The young shuttler, who won the Guatemala Future Series in July, retired while trailing 8-17 against the seventh seeded Nhat Nguyen of Ireland in the quarter-finals.
