B Sai Praneeth enters semifinals of men's singles in Auckland

B Sai Praneeth entered the semifinals of the men's singles event at the New Zealand Open Badminton Championship in Auckland yesterday. He defeated Sri Lanka's Niluka Karunaratne 21-7, 21-9 in the quarterfinals. 

Praneeth will next face second seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in the semi-final. Praneeth is the



lone Indian left in fray after Sameer Verma, seeded fifth, crashed out following a defeat at the hands of Lin Dan in another quarters. 

Fifth seeded Indian men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy also crashed out after losing in the quarterfinals.