Rising Thai star Kunlavut storms into final, Supanida exits in last 4

Rising Thai star Kunlavut storms into final, Supanida exits in last 4

Last hope: Kunlavut Vitidsarn has reached the India Open final. (Photo: Reuters)
Last hope: Kunlavut Vitidsarn has reached the India Open final. (Photo: Reuters)

Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn moved into the men's singles final at the US$900,000 India Open in New Delhi on Saturday.

Eighth seed Kunlavut defeated sixth seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia 27-25, 21-15 in the semi-finals of the World Tour Super 750 event at KD Jadhav Indoor Hall.

He will play the winner of the second semi-final between Danish world No.1 Viktor Axelsen, who triumphed at the season-opening Malaysia Open, and fourth seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia, who were to face off in a late match.

Kunlavut also reached the semi-finals in Kuala Lumpur last week.

Meanwhile fellow Thai Supanida Katethong failed to join her compatriot in today's finals after losing to top seed Akane Yamaguchi in the women's singles semi-finals.

Supanida went down in two games 21-17, 21-16 in only 39 minutes as the top-seeded Japanese remained on course for back-to-back titles.

Top-ranked Yamaguchi will face South Korea's second seed An Se-Young in the title decider today, a rematch of last Sunday's final in Malaysia.

An rallied to defeat China's fourth seed He Bingjiao 11-21, 21-16, 21-16 in the second semi-final on Saturday.

The mixed doubles final will be a battle between fourth seeds Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping of China and third seeds Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino of Japan.

The Chinese pair defeated Kim Won-Ho and Jeong Na-Eun of South Korea in three games while Watanabe and Higashino stunned top seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China, also in three games.

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