Ho Chi Minh City, 11 September (H.S.) :Top seed Tanvi Sharma defeated compatriot and seventh seed Malvika Bansod in a hard-fought quarterfinal on Friday to advance to the women’s singles semifinals of the Vietnam Open Super 100 badminton tournament. World No. 27 Tanvi defeated Malvika 21-18, 15-21, 21-14.

Third seed Isharani Baruah also produced an impressive performance, defeating Chinese Taipei’s Huang Ching Ping 21-15, 21-18 in the quarterfinals to secure her place in the last four.

Malvika made a brisk start in the opening game and built a comfortable 13-6 lead against Tanvi. However, Tanvi staged an excellent comeback, winning 10 of the next 13 points to level the score at 16-16. Maintaining her composure under pressure, Tanvi went on to win the opening game 21-18.

The second game was closely contested, with the lead changing hands repeatedly. This time, however, Malvika produced the stronger performance in the closing stages and won the game 21-15 to force a decider.

The third game was evenly contested in the early stages as well, but Tanvi raised the tempo after the interval and established a lead. She then gave Malvika no opportunity to mount a comeback and closed out the game 21-14 to book her place in the semifinals.

In the semifinals, Tanvi will face the winner of the match between Thailand’s Tonrug Saheng and Sarunrak Vitidsarn. Isharani will take on either Rakshitha Sree or Mansi Singh.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar