In a historic first, India were assured of at least two medals and one finalist in the men’s singles competition of the ongoing BWF World Badminton Championships after the seasoned Kidambi Srikanth and young Lakshya Sen entered their maiden semi-finals of the marquee event here on Friday. However, it was disappointment for defending champion PV Sindhu, who lost to familiar foe Tai Tzu Ying in the women’s singles quarter-finals.

It’s Srikanth v Sen

India are assured of at least a silver as Srikanth and Sen will face each other in the first semi-final on Saturday. It turned out to be a historic day for Indian badminton as first Srikanth, seeded 12th in the showpiece tournament, sent Mark Caljouw of the Netherlands packing with a 21-8, 21-7 win in a match that lasted just 26 minutes. And then the unseeded Sen fought his heart out to get the better of China’s Zhao Jun Peng 21-15, 15-21, 22-20 in an enthralling three-game encounter lasting one hour and seven minutes.