It was a mixed day for Indian shuttlers at the Macau Open Super 300 badminton tournament on Friday.
India's top shuttler Lakshya beat lower ranked Chinese shuttler Zhu Xuan Chen 21-14, 18-21, 21- 14 to move into the semi-finals.
This will be the first last-four appearance of the year for Lakshya, coming in his 11th tournament of 2025.
This, after Tharun Mannepalli advanced to the after a hard-fought win over China's Hu Zhe in Macau on Friday.
World No 17 Lakshya Sen will take on World No 25 Alwi Farhan on Indonesia, meanwhile Mallepalli will take on similar ranked Malaysian shuttler Justin Hoh.
However, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out of the tournament after losing 14-21, 21-13, 20-22 to Malaysian combination of Choong Hon Jian and Haikal Muhammad in the quarterfinals.
Earlier, the 23-year-old Mannepalli, ranked 47th in the world, showcased speed and a versatile shot selection to edge out World No 87 Hu, 21-12 13-21 21-18 in a 75-minute battle.
This marks Mannepalli's maiden semifinal appearance at a BWF Super 300 event. Earlier, he had reached the quarterfinals at the German Open in February.
Mannepalli, who joined the Pullela Gopichand Academy four years ago, has focused on improving his fitness, agility, and movement over the past two years. His hard work paid off this week as he also stunned top seed Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong in the last 16.
A gold medallist at the 37th National Games, Mannepalli was trailing 4-7 in the first game before rallying to 12-9. He then took control and scored six straight points from 15-11 to seal the game.
After the change of ends, Hu played with greater intent, leading 6-2, before extending the lead to 15-6. Mannepalli couldn't close the gap as the Chinese player dominated the second game.
In the decider, Mannepalli surged to a 5-0 lead and maintained a healthy advantage up to 19-15. He then squandered three points, with Hu sending two returns on his forehand corner.
However, Mannepalli stayed composed and landed a timely body smash to earn two match points. He then secured the win with a precise push to Hu's backhand corner, raising his arms in celebration.
Mannepalli started playing badminton at the age of eight in Khammam, Telangana, before moving to Hyderabad after Class X to pursue the sport seriously alongside his studies.
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