Odense (Denmark): Kidambi Srikanth defeated World number 23 and fellow Indian Sameer Verma to advance to the semifinal of the Denmark Open here.
Srikanth defeated Verma 22-20, 19-21, 23-21 in the quarterfinal on Friday. He had earlier defeated Chinese legend Lin Dan 18-21, 21-17, 21-16 in the second round clash played on Thursday night.
Dan, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and five-time world champion, is not the player he used to be but is still a force to reckon with. It was a fifth meeting between Srikanth and Dan, and the Chinese great won the last time they played, in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Rio Olympics. Srikanth had famously scored his maiden win over Dan to win the 2014 China Open.
Meanwhile, Saina Nehwal defeated World Champion Nozomi Okuhara 17-21, 21-16, 21-12 to enter the semifinals. She had earlier defeated World No 2 Akane Yamaguchi of Japan to move into the quarterfinals.
