Lucknow, Jan 22 (IANS): Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu stormed into the final of the 2022 Syed Modi International after her opponent Evgeniya Kosetskaya withdrew midway through their women's singles semi-final match, here on Saturday.

Sindhu began the match strongly and took just 12 minutes to win the first game 21-11 against Evgeniya Kosetskaya of the National Badminton Federation of Russia.

The world No. 28 Kosetskaya decided to withdraw before the start of the second game and gave the Indian shuttler an easy passage to the final on Sunday. With this win, the two-time Olympic medallist remained on course for her first BWF title since winning the world championships in 2019.

The world No. 7 Sindhu will face upcoming Indian youngster Malvika Bansod, who defeated Anupama Upadhyaya 19-21, 21-19, 21-7 in the other semi-final, in the final on Sunday.

The 20-year-old Bansod had knocked out London 2012 bronze medallist Saina Nehwal from last week's India Open and will be relishing the opportunity to add another high-profile scalp to her name by beating PV Sindhu in Sunday's final.

Meanwhile, India's final challenge in the men's singles ended with Mithun Manjunath losing to Arnaud Merkle of France 21-19, 17-21, 21-9 in an 84-minute-long contest.

The mixed doubles finals on Sunday will see seventh seeds Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto taking on T Hema Nagendra Babu and Srivedya Gurazada for the title.