Orleans: Goh Jin Wei of Malaysia did not get off to an ideal quarter-final for her pursuit of the Orleans Masters title on Friday. The 2015 and 2018 girls’ singles World Junior Champion from Malaysia lost to Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand 14-21, 13-21 in the last eight.
The No. 1 seed Chochuwong will take on compatriot and No. 3 seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the semi-finals.
In another women’s singles match, Saina Nehwal of India had to dig deep to see off Iris Wang of USA 21-19, 17-21, 21-19 to play Line Christophersen of Denmark on Saturday.
The men’s singles top seed, Kidambi Srikanth of India, however, was shocked by World No. 47 Toma Junior Popov, squandering 16-12 first game lead to ultimately lost the match 19-21, 17-21 to the French player.
Popov will play No. 4 seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, No. 3 seed Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus of Denmark will battle teammate Mads Christophersen in another men’s singles semi-final.
India’s doubles player, Ashwini Ponnappa, registered two impressive victories on Friday when she partnered N Sikki Reddy to upset No. 3 seeds Chloe Birch/Lauren Smith of England 21-14, 21-18 in the women’s doubles event. They will face No. 1 seeds Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand on Saturday.
Ponnappa then paired up with Dhruv Kapila to outwit Max Flynn/Jessica Pugh of England 21-13, 21-18 in the mixed doubles quarter-finals in just 29 minutes. The Indian pair will play Niclas Nohr/Amalie Magelund of Denmark in the last four.
