INDIA GPG 2015 QF – Attri and Reddi in first Grand Prix semi-final

India added two men’s doubles semi-finalists to its gallery of badminton high performers as Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy squeaked by the second seeds at the Syed Modi International Badminton Championships.

By Don Hearn.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (archives)

Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy (pictured) went one stage further than last year at India’s Grand Prix Gold event, held in January for the second year in a row.  They barely edged out 2^nd-seeded Danes Mads Conrad-Petersen /Mads Pieler Kolding, surviving a devastating second game drubbing and saving two match points in the third before nailing the decider 24-22.

They will join compatriots Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar, who succeeded this year where they failed in Lucknow last year: in beating the reigning World Junior Champions.  This year, Thailand’s Puavaranukroh Dechapol / Ketlen Kittinupong Puttita Supajirakul went down in three to the Indians.

Neither Indian pair will have it easy in the semi-finals, however.  Pranaav and Aksha may be spared having to face China’s giants Li and Liu – the then World Junior Champions who went on to win the 2014 title after beating the Indians – but they will instead have Denmark’s might Boe and Mogensen to contend with.  Manu and Sumeeth will continue to take on the biggest pairs in the world, following up Conrad-Petersen and Pieler Kolding with Russia’s Ivanov/Sozanov.

Thailand’s challenge may have ended in the men’s doubles but three ladies reached their first major semi-finals since last summer. Nichaon Jindapon needed three games to see off India’s P. C. Thulasi to play a Saturday match for the first time since the Indonesia Open Superseries Premier last June.  Her compatriots Puttita Supajirakul / Sapsiree Taerattanachai (pictured) beat Singapore’s Neo/Sari to reach their first semi-final since they were runners-up a the U.S. Open in July.

India’s success was more expected in the women’s doubles, where Jwala Gutta / Ashwini Ponnappa took their expected place in the final four.  That goes double for the women’s singles, where Saina Nehwal is the one in Jindapon’s way and P. V. Sindhu is up against Spain’s Carolina Marin for the first time since losing to her at the World Championships.

The men’s singles semi-finals has only one visitor with a trio of Indians but that is none other than Viktor Axelsen (pictured) of Denmark.  Axelsen made it to the semis after reprising a couple of rivalries from his junior days, finally beating Malaysia’s Zulfadli Zulkifli, the man who denied him a second straight World Junior title in the 2011 final, then repeating the success over India’s B. Sai Praneeth, who was one of the casualties in the Dane’s winning campaign in 2010.

In the mixed doubles, Manu Attri continued his other great run.  He and K. Maneesha followed up their victory over second seeds Chrisnanta/Neo by beating Malaysia’s Tan/Lee and will face another Russian pair for a spot in the final.  Meanwhile, Chan Peng Soon and Lai Pei Jing of Malaysia reached their second Grand Prix Gold semi-final in as many weeks, still hoping for a title before Lai is reunited with Tan Aik Quan for the German and All England Opens.

Click here for complete quarter-final results