Star shuttler HS Prannoy progressed into the men’s singles quarterfinals with a three-game win over compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat at the India Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Thursday.
Playing at the adjacent court, world No. 2 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who are coming into the event after a runner-up finish at Malaysia Open, too sailed into the last 8 with a dominating win over Chinese Taipei’s Lu Ching yao and Yang Po Han in men’s doubles.
Rajawat dished out some delectable drops and half-smashes to trouble Prannoy to pocket the opening game but after he twisted his ankle in the middle of second game, things spiralled out as Prannoy prevailed 20-22 21-14 21-14 in a 76-minute clash.
The World No. 9 will face the winner of the all-Chinese Taipei match between Wang Tzu Wei and Su Li Yang.
Satwik and Chirag, on the other hand, notched up a dominating 21-14 21-15 win over world No. 25 Lu and Yang.
The Asian Games champions will face Denmark’s fifth seeds Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen next.
Prannoy opened up a 6-3 lead initially but Rajawat turned the tables on 9-8 before the experienced Indian managed to take a one-point cushion at the break.
Prannoy moved ahead 13-10 and 18-16 but a four-point burst gave Rajawat two game points. Prannoy, again, drew parity before the Madhya Pradesh shuttler prevailed.
It was a one-way traffic in the second game as Prannoy was up 6-0 in a jiffy but then he started missing the lines as Rajawat narrowed it to 5-9.
Prannoy used deep tosses and was far more polished at the net and was successful in drawing out errors from Rajawat, who seemed to have hurt his ankle during a rally around the mid-game interval.
READ MORE: India Open: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty Eke Out First Round Win
Prannoy, who had a six-point lead at the break, sprayed a few into the net or tossed one out to allow his younger colleague to make it 10-12.
While Rajawat kept fighting, Prannoy kept his calm and nosed ahead to seven game points when Rajawat committed a net error. He sealed it with a precise toss which Rajawat failed to judge.
Rajawat continued to struggle to control the shuttle, resulting in unforced errors as he conceded a 1-7 lead in the decider. Frustration was writ large on Rajawat’s face as Prannoy zoomed to 10-2 before taking a 11-4 lead at the break.
READ MORE: India Open: Error-prone Kidambi Srikanth Goes Down in Opening Round
The senior Indian sent the shuttle to the corners to make Rajawat run and then dished out that precise shot on the back or a backhand flick to finish off points. Soon he had seven match points, which he converted, when Rajwat’s backhand got buried at the net.
“The first game was very close but I had my chances at 18-16 but he played a steady game towards the end. I was ready to play the second and third game. And I knew I had to kind of stretch it long today to kind of get to the end,” Prannoy said.
“I think he twisted his ankle, and unfortunately, couldn’t play post that second set, but he was fighting to kind of make sure that he kind of finishes off the game,” added Prannoy, who suffered a cut on his right index finger.
Satwik and Chirag had no problems in disposing off their rivals as they led 4-1 before moving to 12-8. They broke off from 16-13 to walk away with the opening game.
In the second, the two pairs fought hard initially before the Indian combination stepped up after the break to comfortably close out the match.
“We had lost to them the last time at Japan, so we wanted to take revenge and I am happy our game plan worked today,” Chirag said.
Day of upsets: Big guns Kunlavut, Yamaguchi, Li Shi Feng bow out
Earlier in the day, world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn crashed out of the USD 850,000 tournament on a day of upsets.
The 22-year-old defending champion, who has struggled to cope with expectations following his world championship title win, was edged out 21-16 20-22 21-23 by Yiu in an hour and 22 minutes.
Two-time world champion Akane Yamaguchi and reigning All England champion Li Shi Feng too bit the dust.
While world No. 4 Yamaguchi was sent packing by Thailand’s world no. 18 Busanan Ongbamrungphan 11-21 19-21, unseeded Japanese Koki Watanabe outwitted third seeded Chinese Li Shi Feng 32-24 13-21 21-9 in a 71-minute clash.
Later, Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia beat fifth seed Jonatan Christie 21-15 21-13 in another second round match.
It was a narrow loss for Kunlavut, who hasn’t won any tournament since competing in Copenhagen.
Among others, top seed An Se Young, fourth seed Tai Tzu Ying, sixth seed He Bing Jiao progressed to the next round in women’s singles, while sixth seed Shi Yuqi and Lee Zii Jia also entered the quarterfinals.
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