It was a day of upsets at the US Open badminton championships semi-finals in California.
Indian veteran Kidambi Srikanth made his first final of the season while both the top seeds in the men’s doubles and mixed doubles crashed out.
Thirty-year-old Kidambi, seeded fifth, upset Japan’s fourth seed Yudai Okimoto of 22-20, 15-21, 21-19 in the semi-finals.
Hopes of an all-Indian final was dashed by Taiwanese Su Li Yang, who defeated teenager Rounak Chouhan 21-17, 21-19 in the other semi-finals.
Hiroki Okamura-Kyohei Yamashita of Japan upset men’s doubles top seeds Ben Lane-Sean Vendy of England 10-21, 21-18, 21-16 in the semi-finals,
It was also a disappointment for the hosts as top seeded Presley Smith-Jennie Gai of the USA, were beaten by Taiwan’s Liu Kuang Heng-Hsu Yin-Hui 12-21, 18-21.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Kidambi Srikanth (Ind) bt Yudai Okimoto (Jpn) 22-20, 15-21, 21-19; Su Li Yang (Tpe) bt Rounak Chouhan (Ind) 21-17, 21-19
Men’s doubles: Chen Zhi Ray-Lin Yu Chieh (Tpe) bt Christian Faust Kjaer-Rasmus Kjaer (Den) 21-18, 21-14; Hiroki Okamura-Kyohei Yamashita (Jpn) bt Ben Lane-Sean Vendy (Eng) 10-21, 21-18, 21-16
Women’s singles: Line Christophersen (Den) bt Devika Sihag (Ind) 15-21, 21-11, 21-15; Kaloyana Nalbantova (Bul) bt Rachel Chan (Can) 21-11, 21-13
Women’s doubles: Lin Chih-Chun-Yang Chu Yun (Tpe) bt Kaho Osawa-Mai Tanabe (Jpn) 21-14, 21-12; Sumire Nakade-Miyu Takahashi (Jpn) bt Hinata Suzuki-Nao Yamakita (Jpn) 21-18, 21-18
Mixed doubles: Wu Hsuan-Yi-Yang Chu Yun (Tpe) bt Callum Hemming-Estelle van Leeuwen (Eng) 21-19, 21-14; Liu Kuang Heng-Hsu Yin-Hui (Tpe) bt Presley Smith-Jennis Gai (USA) 21-12, 21-18
