This marks Mannepalli’s maiden semi-final appearance at a BWF Super 300 event. He had previously reached the quarter-finals at the German Open in February
Lakshya Sen and Tharun Mannepalli
Star Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen and promising talent Tharun Mannepalli advanced to the men’s singles semi-finals at the Macau Open Super 300 badminton tournament after registering hard-fought wins here Friday.
The 23-year-old Mannepalli, ranked 47th in the world, showcased speed and a versatile shot selection to edge out China’s World No. 87 Hu Zhe 21-12, 13-21, 21-18 in a 75-minute battle.
This marks Mannepalli’s maiden semi-final appearance at a BWF Super 300 event. He had previously reached the quarter-finals at the German Open in February.
Mannepalli, who joined the Pullela Gopichand Academy four years ago, has focused on improving his fitness, agility, and movement over the past two years. His hard work paid off this week as he also stunned top seed Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong in the last 16.
Later in the day, Sen, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist and World No. 17, eked out a tough 21-14, 18-21, 21-14 victory over Xuan Chen Zhu of China (World No. 77) in his quarter-final that lasted one hour and three minutes.
Sen will be up against World No. 25 Alwi Farhan of Indonesia while Mannepalli will take on Malaysia’s World No. 45 Justin Hoh in the last four.
However, the Indian men’s doubles duo of 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 last eight.
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