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After knocking out the sixth seed Chou Tien Chen in the first round, HS Prannoy will set his sights on a quarter-final berth at the Malaysia Masters on Thursday, May 25. Standing between the World No. 9 Indian and a place in the last eight of this Super 500 tournament is the reigning All England Open champion Li Shi Feng.
Considering the fact that Prannoy had succumbed to World No. 6 Chou Tien Chen just a little over a week ago at the Sudirman Cup, the 16-21, 21-14, 21-13 victory was definitely a huge confidence-booster for the Keralite.
Prannoy will now go all out to build on this big triumph and continue his giant-killing spree.
HS Prannoy vs Li Shi Feng: Head-to-head and prediction
HS Prannoy has a 1-0 lead over Li Shi Feng in their head-to-head. Their only meeting so far has come at the Syed Modi International in 2019, where the Indian came through 18-21, 22-20, 21-13.
Feng, who was an excellent junior, has had his biggest achievement at the senior level earlier this year at the All England Open. The Chinese downed his compatriot Shi Yuqi 26-24, 21-5 to lift the coveted trophy.
Other than that, he has made the final at the German Open, the semi-finals at the Thailand Masters, and the quarter-finals at the India Open and the Badminton Asia Championships in 2023.
The World No. 11 started his Malaysia Masters campaign on Wednesday with a 21-18, 21-15 win over the 17th-ranked Lee Cheuk Yiu.
Prannoy, on the other hand, has made just a couple of quarter-finals at the Malaysia Open and the Badminton Asia Championships this year.
Clearly, Li Shi Feng has been the better player overall this season and will enter this contest with a lot of confidence. But given Prannoy's fearless attitude, we could be in for yet another upset. If the Indian can keep producing his barrage of attacking shots without making too many errors, he has a good chance of progressing further at the Malaysia Masters.
Malaysia Masters 2023, HS Prannoy vs Li Shi Feng: Date and time
HS Prannoy and Li Shi Feng will lock horns in the men's singles second round at the Malaysia Masters 2023 on Thursday in the third match of the day on Court 1.
Date: May 25, 2023
Time: Approx 11.30 am local time, 9.00 am IST
Venue: Axiata Arena, Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia Masters 2023, HS Prannoy vs Li Shi Feng: Where to watch & live streaming details
The match will be broadcast live in India on Sports18 1 and Sports18 1 HD channels. Live streaming will be available on YouTube on BWF.TV.
Live scores can also be followed on the tournament software.
