Top Indian shuttlers P V Sindhu and Ajay Jayaram notched up contrasting victories in the women's and men's singles competition respectively to reach the semi-finals of the $120,000 Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold, in Kuching.
Two-time World Championship bronze medallist, Sindhu defeated Thailand's Porntip Buranaprasertsuk, seeded fifth, 23-21, 21-9 in a 37-minute match to set up a clash with fourth seed Nozomi Okuhara of Japan.
The World No. 11 Indian had lost to Nozomi, ranked 24, last year at the Hong Kong Open and would want to set the record straight tomorrow.
Jayaram, who clinched the Dutch Open last year, saw off Malaysia's Daren Liew 21-16, 21-23, 21-8 in a grueling contest that went on for 56 minutes. He defeated compatriot Aditya Prakash 21-6, 17-21, 21-14 in the earlier round.
The 27-year-old Indian will take on Korea's Jeon Hyeok Jin on Saturday.
It was, however, curtains for Commonwealth Games champion and third seed Parupalli Kashyap, who suffered a 21-13, 17-21, 13-21 loss to Zi Liang Derek Wong of Singapore in another men's singles match.
The 13th seeded Indian, B Sai Praneeth, too, bowed out of the pre-quarterfinals after suffering a 15-21, 17-21 loss to Lee Hyun Il of Korea.
Image: PV Sindhu
Photograph: Nils Meilvang/Scanpix Denmark/Reuters
