New Delhi: 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.
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.