Macau: Malaysian men’s singles shuttler Goh Soon Huat had to roll through a spirited opponent on Friday before he found a way to summon his best badminton when it mattered the most to race past India’s B. Sai Praneeth down the stretch with 21-16, 21-23, 21-13 in 70 minutes.
Goh Soon Huat was the first to draw blood when he broke for 10-4 in set one, and took full advantage of several unforced errors from Praneeth after the Indian shuttler tied the score at 15-15 to grab the opener 21-16.
However, Goh couldn’t cross the finish line when he was leading at 17-15 to allow Praneeth to take second set with 23-21. Goh mounted his surge and took control after a rough-and-tumble of the second set to rally past the Indian 21-13 in the decider. Goh will face world No. 32 Jeon Hyuk-jin of Korea for the first time in his career on Saturday. Jeon defeated Kenta Nishimoto of Japan 21-11, 21-19 to advance to the semi-finals.
In another men’s semi-final, No.2 seed Tian Houwei of China will face Indonesian No. 16 seed Ihsan Maulana Mustofa on Saturday. Mustofa who has put together an impressive run at Macau, knocked out No. 7 seed H. S. Prannoy 18-21, 21-19, 21-11 to cruise into the semi-final.
India’s P.V Sindhu who has been in good form at Macau Open, needed 54 minutes to get the better of unseeded Chen Yufei of China 21-13, 18-21, 21-14. Sindhu will set up a semi-final clash with second seed Akane Yamaguchi on Saturday.
Meanwhile, No. 3 seeds men’s pair Kim Gi Jung/Kim Sa Rang of Korea who won the China Open on Nov 15, 2015, were sent packing by unseeded Berry Angriawan/Ryan Agung Saputra of Indonesia, losing to the Indonesians 24-22, 13-21, 17-21.
In mixed doubles, both third seeds Lee Chun Hei-Chau Hoi Wah and sixth seeds Chan Yun Lung-Tse Ying Suet were defeated by unseeded Choi Solgyu/Eom Hye Won of Korea and unseeded Liu Yuchen/Li Yinhui of China respectively.
