Sreeja Akula followed up her stunning victory over top seed Hina Hayata with back-to-back victories to seal a place in the semifinals of the WTT Contender Lagos on Friday.
The 26-year-old started the day by defeating Italian Debora Vivarelli 9-11, 11-9, 11-3, 11-1 to seal a place in the quarterfinals. She backed the performance up by comprehensively defeating Portugal’s Jieni Shao 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 to qualify for the penultimate round of the tournament.
Akula’s opponent in the semifinals will be either Prithika Pavade of France or Portugal’s Fu Yu.
India also saw more success at the event, with G. Sathiyan and Akash Pal reaching the finals of the men’s doubles event. They will face France’s Leo de Nodrest and Jules Rolland in the final.
Both Pal and Sathiyan fell to the two Frenchmen in the men’s singles events as well. Pal was defeated 12-10, 13-11, 11-6, 11-8 by de Nodrest, while Sathiyan lost 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 to Rolland.
Pal still holds a chance to win another medal in the mixed doubles event, where he will partner with Poymantee Baisya to take on Jules Rolland and Prithika Pavade in the final.