Syed Modi badminton: Sameer, Saina win; Ashwini and Satwik too enter doubles semis

Sameer Verma stayed on course for his title defence while three-time former champion Saina Nehwal too reached the semifinals with an easy win at the Syed Modi International World Tour Super 300 tournament here Friday.

Besides Sameer and Saina, Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwik Rankireddy too notched up twin victories to keep India's title hopes alive in all the three doubles categories.

Sameer, who won the Swiss Open and Hyderabad Open this year, eked out a 21-18 16-21 21-11 win over China's Zhou Zeqi and will square off against Indonesian Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo in the semifinals.

Saina, who claimed a second gold at Commonwealth Games and an Asian Games bronze this season, beat former national champion Rituparna Das 21-19 21-14 to set up a meeting with Indonesia's Ruselli Hartawan.

In men's doubles, Satwiksairaj and Chirag Shetty defeated Chinese combination of Ou Xuanyi and Ren Xiangyu 15-21 21-19 21-17 to set up a semifinal clash with London Olympics silver medallists Mathias Boe and ...