Dubai: Sara Siraj, Ira Sharma and Jenalyn Dimaculangan advanced to the women’s singles semi-finals in the Copy Corner and Legend Food Cup Badminton Festival 2014 being hosted at the Etisalat Sports and Leisure Club.
At the end of the first week of the annual competition, Sharma, a strong contender for the title, eased into the semi-finals by defeating Shahana Umar 21-7, 21-12, while Dimaculangan got the better of Reeja Romi Alexander 21-14, 21-5 to book her place in the last four.
The highlight of the evening was the UAE’s Muna Al Sahlawi taking on a younger opponent before going down to Siraj 15-21, 14-21.
Siraj then got the better of Sanjana Venkatesh 21-12, 21-17 to make the last-four stage of the competition.
In the other quarter-finals, Dimaculangan defeated Jolywin Verdan Rodil 21-11, 21-18 and Nafeesah Sara Siraj beat Sanjana Venkatesh 21-12, 21-17 while Deborah Rebello saw off Amritha Kuttikrishnan 21-15, 21-18.
In the women’s doubles, Princess Ferlyn Castro Arenas and Amritha Kuttikrishnan overcome Enselay Karen and Etsel Zaput 21-9, 21-7 while Laypeng Chew and Ping Sieh Wong defeated Cabacaba Ruth and Guades Verie 21-8, 21-11.
In the mixed doubles, top seed Munawer Mohammad and Teena Mary advanced with a 21-7, 21-13 win over Avinash Janardhanan and Sanjana Venkatesh, while Manoj Karthikeyan and Cahyanti Wulandari Smith also advanced with a 21-10, 21-9 win over Watiwat Jun Jun and Etsel Zaput and the second-seeded pair of Asep Andryana and Vivien Abubo Silva defeated Bancal John Alvin and Guades Verie 21-5, 21-4.
Held under the patronage of the Dubai Sports Council (DSC), nearly 500 players are participating across 19 age categories in the annual competition organised with sponsorship from Delta at the Etisalat Sports and Leisure Club.
