Malaysia Open: Srikanth eases into semis

Kuala Lumpur [Malaysia], June 29 (ANI): Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth stormed into the semi-finals of the Malaysia Open badminton championships after registering a straight-game victory over France's Brice Leverdez in the last-eight clash here on Friday.
Giving no chance to his opponent, the 25-year-old swept aside Leverdez 18-21, 14-21 in a one-sided clash that lasted 39 minutes.
The first set started on a steady note, with the Frenchman maintaining a lead of two points.
However, Srikanth soon bounced back and managed to equalize the score before slowly starting to build the lead over his opponent.
Srikanth was leading 19-17 and the Indian fans were wondering if the shuttler could get past Levedez without stumbling at the final stages of the opening set.
And the former world number one did not disappoint his fans and grabbed the set.
In the second game, both players were looking to create initial momentum and take the advantage of the same. After a score of five each, the Indian shuttler quickly gained two points, leading the set 7-5.
Thereafter, Srikanth did not look back and continued to score taking the score to 14-6 in his favour.
The French shuttler tried to make a comeback and collected three successive points but the Indian shuttler eventually prevailed and won the game.
Meanwhile, PV Sindhu will also look to book her place in the semi-finals of the tournament when she takes on Spain's Caroline Marin in her last-eight clash later today. (ANI)