Rupesh-Sanave duo storms into final
India's men's doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas has stormed into the semifinals of the New Zealand Open Grand Prix badminton in Auckland on Friday. The Indian duo won their match against Malaysian pair of Teik Chai Gan and Bin Shen Tan.
The top seeded Rupesh-Sanave duo raced away with the match against Gan-Tan duo 21-15, 21-14 in just 30 minutes. They had finished runners-up at the Australian Open Grand Prix last week but they will be looking to win the title this time.
The Indian pair will now lock horns with the fourth seeded Japanese pair of Hirokatsu Hashimoto and Noriyasu Hirata in the final.
Hashimoto-Hirata duo upset the second seeded pair of Fernando Kurniawan and Lingga Lie of Indonesia 21-16, 17-21, 21-17 in the semi-final match.
However, India's women's pair of Aparna Balan and Shruti Kurian was thumped by the top seeded Tsz Ka Chan and Ying Suet Tse of Hong Kong 19-21, 15-21 in the semifinal match. The match lasted only for 27-minutes.