Vittinghus had beaten Indian players in each of the three previous rounds at the Babu Banarasi Das Indoor Stadium in Lucknow, but was unable to replicate the feat against eighth seed Verma who triumphed 21-15, 21-13.  

Verma’s reward is a meeting with compatriot and 15^th seed Harsheel Dani, a 21-16, 17-21, 21-11 victor at the expense of Danish 12^th seed Emil Holst.

The other semi-final will also be an all-Indian match-up after Sai Praneeth Bhamidipati and Srikanth Kidambi both came through their last-eight encounters.

Third seed Kidambi defeated Malaysia’s Zulfadli Zulkiffli 21-12, 21-17, while ninth seed Sai Praneeth proved too strong for countryman Sourabh Varma in a 21-19, 12-21, 21-10 success.

In the women’s singles draw, top seed Pusarla Sindhu remains on course for the title thanks to a 21-15, 21-11 win to the detriment of fellow Indian Vaidehi Choudhari.

Awaiting her in the semi-finals is Indonesian fourth seed Fitriani Fitriani, who defeated India’s Rituparna Das 21-17, 13-21, 23-21.

The other last-four tie pits unseeded Indonesian Gregoria Mariska, a surprise 21-9, 21-11 winner over Spanish third seed Beatriz Corrales, against sixth-seeded compatriot Hanna Ramadini, a 21-17, 21-15 victor over India’s Sri Krishna Priya Kudaravalli.