Viren charges into Men’s Singles semis of HUNDRED Challenge 2025

Saturday, 1 March 2025 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Viren Nettasinghe

Sri Lanka’s top ranked shuttler, Viren Nettasinghe, charged into the semi-final stage of the Men’s Singles at the ongoing HUNDRED Sri Lanka International Challenge 2025, at the St. Joseph’s College Indoor Complex in Darley Road, Colombo.

On Friday, Viren toppled Kai Cheng of Chinese Taipei in the Men’s Singles quarter-final clash, after conceding the first set following a close battle. Viren took an early charge, but Cheng countered well to cause his opponent an early shock by claiming the first set by 21/16. Retrieving his briefly shackled momentum, Viren bounced back to completely outdo Cheng in the following two sets by 21/7 and 21/13 to book his berth in the semi-finals.

Viren will clash against Malaysia’s Sholeh Aidil in the Men’s Singles semi-final at 1:20 p.m. local time, as Sri Lanka is assured of a medal despite the outcome. Aidil, currently holding the 68th position in the BWF ranking, too has remained unbeaten so far, yet will surely expect a tough challenge from Viren, currently placed 71st in BWF ranking. So far Viren has continued his unblemished run to move forward in the top grade Badminton World Federation sanctioned competition to be held in Sri Lanka this year.

On Thursday evening, Viren faced a strong opponent in Malaysia’s Zhen Yi Ong, as the Sri Lankan held his nerves to secure a 2-1 win. After winning the first set 21/19, Viren was given a shocker by Ong, who levelled the game by claiming the second set 21/18. However Viren proved his strength by making a powerful comeback to claim the third set 21/13 and seal the game.

Viren, seeded fourth in the six-day tournament, recorded an inspiring straight win against Naren Iyer of India with set wins of 21/15 and 21/10 to move forward from the Round of 32 stage on Thursday morning. Earlier in the Round of 64, Viren had a shaky start against unseeded Henrikho Kho of Indonesia, before bouncing back to record a thrilling 2-1 win after an absorbing third setter on Wednesday. Henrikho surprised Viren by claiming the first set by 21/14, but the Sri Lankan made a remarkable comeback in the second set to record a 21/15 win for an equaliser. With the deciding third set proving crucial, Viren held his nerves to overcome the refining Indonesian 22/20 after a gruelling battle.

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