Fullerton, June 27 (IANS) Thailand Masters champion Devika Sihag defeated third seed Riko Gunji of Japan, while Rounak Chouhan advanced to the US Open badminton semifinals, continuing his impressive streak.

Devika maintained her composure during the crucial moments of both games, winning against Gunji 22-20, 21-19 in the women’s singles quarterfinals on Friday. Meanwhile, Chouhan beat Israel’s Misha Zilberman 23-21, 21-11 in only 38 minutes, securing his first men’s singles BWF World Tour Super 300 semifinal.

Later that day, former world number one Kidambi Srikanth defeated Liao Jhuo-Fu of Chinese Taipei 21-9, 12-21, 21-8 in the quarterfinals, boosting hopes for an all-India final on Sunday.

In the semifinals, Chouhan will compete against eighth seed Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei, while Srikanth will face the fourth seed Yudai Okimoto of Japan.

Meanwhile, Devika will compete against second seed Line Christophersen in the semifinal. The Danish player defeated India’s Tanvi Sharma in the quarterfinals with scores of 21-16, 11-21, 21-11.

In the other quarterfinal, Rakshitha Sree lost to Canada’s Rachel Chan with scores of 15-21, 21-16, 21-12.

Earlier on Wednesday, World Junior Championship silver medallist Tanvi Sharma and Devika began their US Open campaign strongly with easy victories. Tanvi won against Yvonne Li of Germany 23-21, 21-16, while Devika defeated Ines Lucia Castillo of Peru 21-14, 21-14 in the women’s singles first round.

In the first of two all-Indian matchups, rising star Rounak Chouhan defeated former world junior silver medallist S Sankar Muthusamy with scores of 23-21, 21-16. Fifth seed Kidambi Srikanth then comfortably beat fellow Indian D Saneeth in just 30 minutes, winning 21-14, 21-12. Additionally, Rakshitha Sree advanced in women’s singles, along with the mixed doubles pair Dhruv Rawat and K Maneesha.

Rakshitha beat Tereza Svabikova of the Czech Republic 21-15, 21-8. The seventh-seeded mixed doubles team of Rawat and Maneesha took only 26 minutes to defeat Indonesia’s Wirawan Ihsan Adam and Serena Kani with scores of 21-15, 21-16.

–IANS

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