India Open 2024: Prannoy, Satwik-Chirag through to quarters

A contest that headed for a possible upset of H. S. Prannoy fizzed out into a one-sided affair once Priyanshu Rajawat twisted his ankle in the second game.

A gracious Prannoy acknowledged the 21-year-old sparring partner’s rise in the last 18 months after his 20-22, 21-14, 21-14 victory in 76 minutes for a place in the men’s singles quarterfinals of the India Open badminton here on Thursday.

The only other Indian interest, second seeded combination of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, avenged the Japan Open loss to Chinese Taipei’s Liu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han 21-14, 21-15 for a place in the last-eight.

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On a day when reigning World and defending champion Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn and two-time World women champion Akane Yamaguchi were sent packing, China’s Li Shifeng and Indonesia’s Jonathan Christie, seeded three and five, stood upstaged.

Using the slowness of the shuttle here to his advantage, Priyanshu did not offer Prannoy the desired pace. But Prannoy still managed to finish the point early and stayed ahead until the youngster made it 7-7.

As expected, the rallies induced by Priyanshu witnessed some good shot-making from both players. Prannoy stayed ahead for the better part until his younger rival won four straight points to hold two game points. Prannoy saved them but could not deny Priyanshu the opening game.

In the second, when Prannoy placed the shuttle for a 4-0 lead with a deft forehand crosscourt, Priyanshu lunged to return but ended up twisting his right ankle. For the rest of the match, Priyanshu appeared circumspect enough not to aggravate the injury.

Prannoy won the first seven points and six of the last seven points of the second game to force the decider. Again, Prannoy jumped to a 5-0 lead and enlarged it to 10-1. A gallant Priyanshu managed to make the score-line look respectable before surrendering.

Prannoy now faces Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu Wei against whom he holds a 6-2 career record.