Victor Indonesia Open badminton 2011: PV Sindhu storms into Semi-Finals

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There was a heartening result today for India, at the Indonesia badminton tournament, and one that augurs well for the future of Indian badminton.

India's rising badminton star PV Sindhu who just turned 16 earlier this month, has reached the semi-finals at the ongoing Victor Indonesia Open International Challenge 2011 badminton tournament, that is being held at Surabaya in East Java, Indonesia from 19-Jul-2011 to 24-Jul-2011.

Unseeded P.V. Sindhu, got the better of 8th seeded Zhang Beiwen of Singapore in the quarterfinal round defeating her in 3 sets, 21-23 21-14 21-9. She will next play against 12th seeded Tee Jing Yi of Malaysia in the semi-final round match.

While Sindhu reached the semis, the other remaining hope for India in the women's singles, reigning national badminton champion Aditi Mutatkar lost against 12th seeded Tee Jing Yi of Malaysia. Tee Ying Ji beat Aditi in a close match by a score of 21-15 20-22 21-15. It remains to be seen how Sindhu tackles the Malaysian tomorrow.

PV Sindhu (Pusarla Venkat Sindhu) who currently trains at the Gopichand badminton academy in Hyderabad, is the daughter of former international volleyball players Arjuna awardee P.V. Ramana, and P. Vijaya. Her parents must be really proud of their daugther today, who at the age of just 16 years, is already creating a few waves on the u-19 as well as the International senior badminton circuits.

Sindhu also recently had a good run at the Asian Youth under-19 badminton championships, where she had reached the semi-finals of the women's singles.

It may not be out of context here to recall that Saina Nehwal's success was also on similar lines, and she too had made her mark on the senior circuit from a very young age.

In the other women's singles semi-final match that will be played tomorrow, top seed Fransiska Ratnasari Harisaputra of Indonesia will clash with fellow Indonesian player Renna Suwarno. Unseeded Renna ousted 4th seed Nitachon Jindapol of Thailand to set up the semi-final clash with Fransiska.

In the men's singles, 8th seeded Anup Sridhar, who was India's last remaining hope in the men's singles, lost in the quarter-finals against top seed Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia. The current world no.25 Tommy defeated world no.100 Anup by a score of 21-19, 21-15.

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