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HS Prannoy survived a big scare by Priyanshu Rajawat to enter the Syed Modi International badminton tournament quarterfinals at the Babu Banarasi Das Stadium in Lucknow on Thursday.
In a battle between youth and experience, HS Prannoy overcame a stiff challenge from Priyanshu to book his place in the last-eight stage of the BWF World Tour 300 tournament.
Fifth seed Prannoy squeezed past Priyanshu 21-11, 16-21, 21-18 in a thrilling men’s singles second round encounter that lasted an hour and 4 minutes.
World No. 24 Prannoy needed to use all his experience to get the better of 20-year-old Priyanshu.
World No. 127 Priyanshu squandered away a three-point lead in the third and deciding game which proved costly for him.
Priyanshu, who triumphed at the Infosys International in Bengaluru and Ukraine International in 2021, had a chance to register perhaps the biggest victory of his career.
Priyanshu was leading 14-11 midway through the deciding game, but Prannoy, who is 29 years of age, staged a superb recovery to stay in contention.
Madhya Pradesh youngster Priyanshu also regained his lead (18-17) towards the end of the game but failed to seal the issue in his favor. Prannoy, a former top-10 player, pocketed four successive points to clinch the decider 21-18.
Prannoy to clash with France’s Arnaud Merkle for a spot in the semis
Prannoy will cross swords with France’s Arnaud Merkle, who ended India’s Kartikey Gulshan Kumar's campaign with a 21-8, 21-12 win.
It will be Prannoy’s first meeting with Merkle, who is ranked 79 in the world. Former senior national champion Prannoy is aiming to regain his spot in the top ten in the world rankings this year. Kerala’s Prannoy would be hoping to win the title in Lucknow to fulfill his dream.
Sindhu defeats Lauren Lam of the USA in the second round
Top seed PV Sindhu barely broke any sweat to seal her spot in the women’s singles quarterfinals.
Two-time Olympic medalist Sindhu took just 33 minutes to get the better of American Lauren Lam 21-16, 21-13 in her second-round outing.
Sindhu will face sixth-seeded Supanida Katethong of Thailand in the last-eight stages in a repeat of last week’s India Open Super 500 semifinals.
Former world champion Sindhu will look to set the record straight against the left-handed Thai, who beat the Indian star last week in New Delhi.
Aakarshi Kashyap to meet Malvika Bansod again in quarterfinals
Aakarshi Kashyap and Malvika Bansod have set up an exciting quarter-final clash against each other after recording straight-game wins in their respective second-round ties.
Indian Open semifinalist Aakarshi thumped Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka 21-9, 21-6, while Malvika got the better of Prerana Neeluri 21-10, 21-8.
In another women’s singles second round match, Hyderabad teenager Samiya Imad Farooqui outclassed Kanika Kanwal 21-6, 21-15.
Eighteen-year-old Samiya, a former junior world No. 2, will lock horns with promising Haryana shuttler Anupama Upadhyaya in another all-Indian clash.
Seventeen-year-old Anupama overcame a late challenge to down Smit Toshniwal 21-12, 21-19 in 43 minutes.
Mithun Manjunath upsets higher-ranked Malaysian
Mithun Manjunath fought for an hour and 20 minutes before prevailing 16-21, 21-16, 23-21 against Malaysia’s Soong Joo Ven.
World No. 121 Mithun, who recently won the BAI All India Senior Rankings tournament in Hyderabad, avenged a previous defeat against the Malaysian shuttler.
Soong Joo Ven, ranked 65 in the world, had two match points but could not convert them.
There were curtains for other Indian men’s singles players Chirag Sen, Kaushal Dharmamer and Raghu Mariswamy.
Russia’s Sergey Sirant quelled Chirag’s challenge 18-21, 22-20, 21-12, while Kaushal lost 16-21, 13-21 to Cheam June Wei of Malaysia.
Fourth seeded men’s doubles pair MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila also reached the quarterfinals after getting a walkover from compatriots Ayush Makhija and Venkat Gaurav Prasad.
Indian Results (Round 2)
Men’s singles
5-HS Prannoy bt Priyanshu Rajawat 21-11, 16-21, 21-18 (64 minutes)
Mithun Manjunath bt Soong Joo Ven (Malaysia) 16-21, 21-16, 23-21 (80 minutes)
Raghu Mariswamy lost to Lucas Claerbout (France) 9-21, 9-21 (25 minutes)
Chirag Sen lost to Sergey Sirant (Russia) 21-18, 20-22, 12-21 (58 minutes)
Kartikey Gulshan Kumar lost to Arnaud Merkle (France) 8-21, 12-21 (39 minutes)
Kaushal Dharmamer lost to Cheam June Wei (Malaysia) 16-21, 13-21 (38 minutes)
Women’s singles
1-PV Sindhu bt Lauren Lam (USA) 21-16, 21-13 (33 minutes)
Malvika Bansod bt Prerana Neeluri 21-10, 21-8 (27 minutes)
Aakarshi Kashyap bt Sai Uttejitha Rao C 21-9, 21-6 (24 minutes)
Anupama Upadhyaya bt Smit Toshniwal 21-12, 21-19 (43 minutes)
Samiya Imad Farooqui bt Kanika Kanwal 21-6, 21-15 (27 minutes)
Kriti Bharadwaj lost to 6-Supanida Katethong (Thailand) 11-21, 7-21 (26 minutes)
Men’s doubles
6-Krishna Prasad G-Vishnuvardhan Goud P bt Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub Azriyn-Lim Khim Wah (Malaysia) 15-21, 21-17, 21-8 (46 minutes)
Ishaan Bbhatnagar-Sai Pratheek K bt Shyam Prasad-S Sunjith (Jr) 21-17, 21-17 (33 minutes)
Akshay Kadam-Raju Mohamed Rehan lost to 2-Vladimir Ivanov-Ivan Sozonov (Russia) 9-21, 12-21 (22 minutes)
Himanshu Mittal-Shubham Sharma lost to 8-Man Wei Chong-Kai Wun Tee (Malaysia) 7-21, 9-21 (25 minutes)
Prem Singh Chouhan-Rajesh Verma gets a walkover from Vighnesh Devlekar-Deep Rambhiya
4-MR Arjun-Dhruv Kapila gets a walkover from Ayush Makhija-Venkat Gaurav Prasad
Gaurav Deswal-Shubham Yadav lost to 7-Fabien Delrue-William Villeger (France) 13-21, 18-21 (31 minutes)
Women’s doubles
7-Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand P bt Simran Singhi-Ritika Thaker 21-12, 21-7 (27 minutes)
Tanishka Deshpande-Shruti Mundada bt Rudrani Jaiswal-Jamaludeen Anees Kowsar 21-12, 21-13 (29 minutes)
Riya Mookerjee-Shivani Santosh Singh lost to 2-Anastasiia Akchurina-Olga Morozova (Russia) 14-21, 9-21 (35 minutes)
Haritha MH bt Ashna Roy bt Manidipa Dey-Uthsava Palit 21-18, 21-10 (24 minutes)
Kanika Kanwal-Anura Prabhudesai lost to 8-Anna Ching Yik Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing (Malaysia) 13-21, 18-21 (29 minutes)
Sri Sai Sravya L-Swetaparna Panda lost to 5-Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien (Malaysia) 13-21, 11-21 (27 minutes)
Srivedya G-Ishika Jaiswal lost to Low Yeen Yuan-Valeree Siow (Malaysia) 15-21, 17-21 (37 minutes)
Mixed doubles
7-Ishaan Bhatnagar-Tanisha Crasto bt Sai Pratheek K-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela 21-14, 26-24 (43 minutes)
Akshan Shetty-Simran Singhi bt Kashish Sharma-Saruni Sharma 21-3, 21-10 (18 minutes)
MR Arjun-Treesa Jolly bt S Sunjith (Jr)-Mehreen Riza 21-9, 21-17 (24 minutes)
Ashith Surya-Pranjal Prabhu Chimulkar gets a walkover from 4-Venkat Gaurav Prasad-Juhi Dewangan
Balkeshari Yadav-Swetaparna Panda gets a walkover from 5-Chan Peng Soon-Valeree Siow (Malaysia)
Dhruv Rawat-Shikha Gautam lost to 2-Chen Tang Jie-Peck Yen Wei (Malaysia) 14-21, 11-21 (26 minutes).
