Orleans Masters: Doubles pair of Ashwini-Sikki reach semis

Indian women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy advanced to the semi-finals of the ongoing Orleans Masters on Friday.

Ponnappa and Ready outclassed England's pair of Chloe Birch and Lauren Smith 21-14, 21-18 in the quarter-finals clash that lasted for 41 minutes.

Indian men's doubles pair of Krishna Prashad Garaga and Vishnu Vardhan Goud Panjala stormed into the semi-finals after defeating the local pair of Christo Popov and Toma Junior Popov in a three-game intense clash.

The Indian duo came out triumphant despite the French pair staging a comeback in the second game. They won the match by 21-17, 10-21, 22-20 in an encounter that was completed in one hour and three minutes.

Later in the day, Kidambi Srikanth and Ira Sharma will compete in their respective quarter-final games. Srikanth defeated Malaysia's Cheam June Wei in straight games in the third-round that lasted for 46 minutes. Despite facing a tough fight in both the games, Srikanth got better of his opponent and won the encounter 21-17, 22-20.

( With inputs from ANI )