Badminton World Championships: Indian shuttler HS Prannoy’s run of strong performance in the Badminton World Championship continues. But this time the players who have suffered the loss of this tremendous form are also Indians. Prannoy surprised everyone by defeating compatriot and Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen in the pre-quarters of the tournament.
Prannoy beat Lakshya to reach quarter finals
The match between Lakshya and Prannoy lasted for about a quarter of an hour in which Prannoy won 17-21, 21-16, 21-17. Unseeded Indian shuttler Prannoy lost to Sen in the first game which almost every badminton fan had predicted. But from the second game, Prannoy was in exactly the same rhythm on which he defeated the former world champion in the previous round. Lakshya tried a lot but Prannoy’s command on the court looked better. After this win, the win-loss record between the two has become 2-2.
Earlier, in the round of 32, Prannoy had registered a sensational victory. Prannoy exceeded expectations against two-time former world champion Momota. Although Momota was the favorite of the audience during the match, he was also being cheered a lot but the Indian badminton player did not let him last. Prannoy defeated Momota 21-17, 21-6 in the second round match.
HS Prannoy will now face China’s Zhao Jun Peng in the quarterfinals of the Badminton World Championship.
Saina Nehwal got defeated in a tough match
Saina Nehwal lost 17-21, 21-16, 13-21 to her rival shuttler Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand. With this win, Busanan’s winning record against Saina has gone up to 5-3. Busanan took an 11-3 lead in the opening game, putting Saina under pressure. Although the Indian player reduced the gap to 17-19 but the Thailand player easily won the first game.
A comeback at the end of the first game gave Saina confidence and the former number one went 11-7 at the break. He played aggressively and took the match to the deciding game.
In the third game, both the players gave a tough competition to each other. But Busanan started gaining momentum and took a five-point lead. On the other hand, Saina continued to lag behind and the 26-year-old Busanan secured her place in the quarter-finals with seven match points.
In men’s doubles, two Indian pairs in the quarter-finals
In men’s doubles, Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun along with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also reached the quarterfinals of the Badminton World Championship.
The unseeded pair of Arjun and Kapila registered an 18-21, 21-15, 21-16 win over Terry Hee and Loh Keen Heen of Singapore in a thrilling 58-minute match. Satwik and Chirag beat Denmark’s Jeppa Bay and Lasse Molhede 21-12, 21-10 in 35 minutes. They will now face the second seeded pair of Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi of Japan in the quarterfinals.
