Badminton News : Indian shuttlers shining bright at Orleans Masters

India's fourth seed Saina Nehwal in women's singles and eighth-seeded women's doubles pair Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy progressed to the semi-finals of the Orleans Masters Super 100 badminton tournament.Saina edged past Iris Wang of the USA 21-19, 17-21, 21-19 in 60 minutes in the quarter-final match. The Indian shuttler will now lock horns with unseeded Line Christophersen of Denmark in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Ashwini and Sikki beat England's third seeds Chloe Birch and Lauren Smith 21-14, 21-18 42 minutes in the quarter-finals. They will now face Thai top seeds Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai in the semi-finals.In mixed doubles quarter-finals, India's new pair Dhruv Kapila and Ashwini Ponnappa beat England's Max Flynn and Jessica Pugh 21-13, 21-18 in a mere 29 minutes to enter the semi-finals. However, India's Kidambi Srikanth lost to France's Toma Junior Popov 19-21, 17-21 in a men's singles quarter-final match in 42 minutes and crashed out.