India, Aug. 1 -- India's Unnati Hooda and Tanvi Sharma won their respective women's singles matches to enter the semifinals of the Taipei Open badminton tournament on Friday.

Kiran George, however, lost his men's singles quarterfinal match against Japan's fourth-seeded Yudai Okimoto 21-12 21-10 in 33 minutes. Hooda clinched a straight-game 23-21 21-16 victory over compatriot Devika Sihag to reach the last-four stage, while Tanvi got the better of Thailand's Supanida Katethong 21-15 18-21 21-14 in a gruelling 54-minute quarterfinal clash.

Earlier in the day, the all-Indian quarterfinal contest between Hooda and Sihag started with a fiercely contested first game, where the former held her nerve to win it 23-21. Hooda was off to a great st...