Sourabh storms into final, Diju-Jwala crashes out

Emerging Indian shuttler Sourabh Varma continued his dream run at the Syed Modi Memorial India Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament by stunning 16th seed Suppanyu Avihingsanon of Thailand, to storm into the final of the men's singles event, in Lucknow, on Saturday.

Giant-killer Varma took just 47 minutes to knock the stuffing out of his higher-ranked Thai opponent 26-24, 21-13.

Unseeded Varma will now face second seed and former World and Oympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the summit clash on Sunday.

Hidayat had to sweat it out to get the better of fifth seed Wing Ki Wong of Hong Kong 21-16, 15-21, 21-18 in the other semi-final.

Varma had earlier stunned fourth seed Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia in the third round before accounting for another seeded player Yun Hu of Hong Kong (7th) in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, it was curtains for India's mixed doubles pair of V Diju and Jwala Gutta as they went down to Muhammad Rijal Debby Susanto of Indonesia in the semi-finals.

The fourth seeded Indian pair were no match for their Indonesian rivals, going down 15-21, 12-21 in just 27 minutes.