Macau, Aug 2: Lakshya Sen and promising Tharun Mannepalli advanced to the men’s singles semifinals of the Macau Open Super 300 badminton tournament after registering hard-fought wins here Friday.Taking the court first, the 23-year-old Mannepalli, ranked 47th in the world, showcased speed and a versatile shot selection to edge out China’s 87th ranked Hu Zhe 21-12, 13-21, 21-18 in a 75-minute battle.
Later in the day, Lakshya, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist and second seed here, eked out a tough 21-14, 18-21, 21-14 victory over Xuan Chen Zhu of China in his quarterfinal that lasted one hour and three minutes.
Lakshya will be up against fifth seed Alwi Farhan of Indonesia while Mannepalli will take on Malaysia’s Justin Hoh in the last-four round.
However, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty bowed out of the tournament after losing 14-21, 21-13, 20-22 to Malaysian combination of Choong Hon Jian and Haikal Muhammad in the quarterfinals.
Mannepalli, who joined the Pullela Gopichand Academy four years ago, has focused on improving his fitness, agility, and movement over the past two years.
The Indian, who won gold at the 37th National Games, was trailing 4-7 in the first game before rallying to 12-9. He then took control and scored six straight points from 15-11 to seal the game.
After the change of ends, Hu played with greater intent, leading 6-2 and extending the lead to 15-6. Mannepalli couldn’t close the gap as the Chinese player dominated the second game.