Orleans Masters: Doubles pair of Krishna-Vishnu march into final

Indian men's doubles pair of Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnu Vardhan Goud Panjala cruised into the finals of the Orleans Masters here on Saturday after registering a win over England's Callum Hemming and Steve Stallwood.

In the semi-final clash, Krishna and Vishnu displayed an attacking mindset and dominated both the games as they defeated the English pair 21-17, 21-17 in 35 minutes.

Krishna and Vishnu will now play the summit clash on Sunday.

In another clash, the Indian women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy crashed out of the competition after losing in the semi-final against Thailand's Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai.

The Indian duo faced a defeat at the hands of Jongkolphan and Rawinda in straight games 21-18, 21-8 in an encounter that lasted for 37 minutes.

Earlier on Friday, Ashwini and Sikki had outclassed England's pair of Chloe Birch and Lauren Smith 21-14, 21-18 in the quarter-finals clash that lasted for 41 minutes.

Ace India shuttler Kidambi Srikanth on Friday bowed out of the tournament after losing in the quarter-finals. France's Toma Junior Popov defeated Srikanth in straight games 21-19, 21-17 in a clash that lasted for 41 minutes.

The Indian shuttler staged a great show but he could not get over the line and lost both the games in a closely fought affair. Saina Nehwal had progressed to the semi-finals after defeating USA's Iris Wang in the quarter-final clash.

( With inputs from ANI )