Arnaud Merkle and Lucas Claerbout set up an all-French showdown in the men’s singles final of the Syed Modi India International 2022 in Lucknow on Saturday.

This is the furthest either has gone at an HSBC BWF World Tour Super 300 tournament.

While 21-year-old Merkle beat home hope Mithun Manjunath 21-19 17-21 21-9, his 29-year-old compatriot Claerbout overcame Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen in a tougher contest. Nguyen had won the opening game and was 15-13 in the third before Claerbout pulled ahead, clinching the match 15-21 21-18 21-15 in 84 minutes.

Women’s singles will see world No.7 Pusarla V Sindhu against younger compatriot Malvika Bansod. Pusarla’s semifinal opponent Evgeniya Kosetskaya retired after the first game, while Bansod beat Anupama Upadhyaya in three games.

 Other Highlights

♦Two Malaysian pairs made the finals in women’s doubles and mixed doubles. Anna Ching Yik Cheong/Teoh Mei Xing beat Haritha Haritha Harinarayanan/Ashna Roy and will be up against Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand Pullela in the women’s doubles final.

♦In men’s doubles, Man Wei Chong/Tee Kai Wun got the better of MR Arjun/Dhruv Kapila; their opponents in the final will be local duo Krishna Prasad Garaga/Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala.

Women’s doubles semifinal sees 🇲🇾 Low/Siow and 🇮🇳 Jolly/Pullela take to the court in Lucknow.#BWFWorldTour #SyedModi2022 pic.twitter.com/hk45wR7hKM

— BWF (@bwfmedia) January 22, 2022

♦The mixed doubles will be an all-Indian affair, with Ishaan Bhatnagar/Tanisha Crasto taking on Hema Nagendra Babu/Srivedya Gurazada.

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