Malaysia Masters 2024: PV Sindhu Through to Semi-Finals; Ashmita Chaliha Loses Quarter-Final

India's ace shuttler PV Sindhu overcame top seed Han Yue of China to reach the Malaysia Masters 2024 semi-final on Friday (May 24) at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The two-time Olympic medallist defeated the Chinese top seed Han by a scoreline of 21-13, 14-21, 21-12 in the women's singles quarter-final match that lasted 55 minutes on Court 1.

Sindhu, who had lost to Han last month in the Badminton Asia Championships 2024 round of 16, extended her head to head record against the Chinese shuttler to 6-1 with the latest win, which also sealed her first semi-final appearance this year.

The Paris Olympics-bound Sindhu will next face Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand in the last four clash on Saturday (May 25). The Indian shuttler has a 17-1 lead over the Thai shuttler in the previous 18 clashes.

In the opening game, it was pretty close till the mid-game interval, but it was all Sindhu after the break as the Indian sealed the opener 21-13. The Chinese shuttler, however, forced the decider by winning the second game 21-14.

In the third and deciding game, fifth seeded Sindhu raced into a big lead heading into the mid-game interval before easing to a 21-12 win that sealed the match and the semi-final spot.

Sindhu, who survived a scare on Wednesday (May 22) to reach the last eight, could have been joined in the last four by young compatriot Ashmita Chaliha, who had stunned third seed Beiwen Zhang of USA in the second round.

However, the 24-year-old's run was halted by China's sixth seed Zhang Yi Man in the quarter-final later on Friday (May 24). Ashmita suffered a straight games 10-21, 15-21 defeat to Zhang in the last 8 match in just 30 minutes on Court 2.

Earlier on Thursday (May 23), Sindhu and Chaliha progressed to the quarters, but there were several Indians who bowed out of the tournament, including Kiran George in men's singles and Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand pair in women's doubles.

Apart from them, Krishna Prasad Garaga-Sai Pratheek, Simran Singhi-Ritika Thaker and B Sumeeth Reddy-Sikki Reddy also crashed out of their respective doubles second round matches, marking the end of India's doubles challenge in Kuala Lumpur this year.