Sameer enters semifinals of Orleans Open

Orleans (France), Mar 31:

Sameer Verma emerged as the lone Indian survivor at the Orleans Open World Super 100 tournament after reaching the semifinals with a hard-fought win over local hope Lucas Corvee in men’s singles competition.

Top seeded Sameer, who clinched the Swiss Open last month, saw off eighth seeded Corvee 17-21 21-19 21-15 in a battle that lasted an hour and eight minutes at the Palais des sports.

The Indian will face Netherlands’ Mark Caljouw, seeded fourth, next.

It turned out to be a disappointing day for fifth seeded Parupalli Kashyap as he lost 18-21 14-21 to third seeded Rasmus Gemke of Denmark.

After battling for 44 minutes, Indian men’s doubles pair of Francis Alwin and K Nandagopal also suffered a 21-19 14-21 8-21 loss to third seeded German combo of Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Emil Seidel. PTI