Thailand Grand Prix: Saina, Sai Praneeth advance to semis

Olympic medallist Saina Nehwal and B Sai Praneeth advanced to the semi-finals of the $ 120000 Thailand Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament with convincing victories in Bangkok on Friday.

The second seeded Saina, ranked 11 in the world, defeated Japan's Haruko Suzuki 21-15, 20-22, 21-11 to make the last-four stage following the women's singles clash that lasted one hour and nine minutes.

"Tough win today #thailandGPG #quaterfinals ..... won in three sets 21-15,22-20, 21-11 ...." Saina wrote on her Twitter handle after the win.

The 27-year-old London Olympics medallist, who had breezed past unseeded Ying Ying Lee of Malaysia in straight games 21-11, 21-14 in the quarter-finals, will face Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the semi-final.

Earlier, B Sai Praneeth sailed into the semi-finals after registering a straight-game win over local player Kantaphon Wangcharoen.

The third seeded Praneeth comfortably defeated the Thai 21-16, 21-17 in the men's singles section at the Nimibutr Stadium.

The world number 24 took 50 minutes to complete the task against his opponent, ranked 102 in the world.

In their only meeting before today's match, the 24-year- old Praneeth had beaten Wangcharoen 18-21, 21-14, 21-15 at the Indonesian Masters last year.

The Singapore Open champion had beaten Iskandar Zulkarnain of Malaysia in straight games in the quarter-finals on Thursday.