Praneeth enters semi-finals of New Zealand Badminton Open

Speed Post News Network

Patna : World Number 16 in Badminton World Federation Rankings (BWF) B Sai Praneeth, 25, India, entered the semi-fianls of New Zealand Open Badminton, a World Tour Super 300 event, on May 4, 2018. Praneeth, the 3rd seed, defeated World Number 72 Niluka Karunaratne, Sri Lanka, 21-7, 21-9, in 28 minutes in the quarter-finals.

Praneeth will play World Number 14 Jonatan Christie, Indonesia, the second seed, in the semifianls. Praneeth had won Singapore Open singles title in 2017.

But, World Number 30 Sameer Verma, the 5th seed, lost to two time Olympic and 5 time World Champion Lin Dan, 34, China, in the quarter-finals. Lin Dan, the top seed and World Number 6, crushed Sameer Verma, the 5th seed,  21-19, 21-9, to enter the semi-fianls on May 4.