Defending Champion India faces Thailand in their Thomas Cup Opener.
While the Thomas Cup is the world badminton team championship for men, the Uber Cup is the women’s version. Both championships are held simultaneously biannually.
Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth, and HS Pranmoy chalked out impressive wins over their higher ranked rivals to set up an all-India pre-quarterfinal at the Japan Open badminton tournament in Tokyo on Tuesday
Currently ranked 20th, Srikanth , overpowered world No. 8 Chou Tien-Chen 21-13, 21-13 in 43 minutes for his second win over the Chinese Taipei rival in eight meetings.
Later, eighth seed HS Prannoy, defeated world No. 7 and reigning All England champion Li Shi Feng of China 21-17,21-13 in 49 minutes. It was the Indian’s third straight win over the Chinese,
Advertisement
Srikanth and World no 10 Prannoy will face each other in the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF Super 750 tournament on Wednesday.
In the women’s singles, world No. 42,Aakarshi Kashyap, went down 21-17, 21-17 to top-ranked Japanese shuttler Akane Yamaguchi in 34 minutes.
In the women’s doubles Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand staged a comeback to beat Japanese duo Sayaka Hobara and Yui Suizu Japan 11-21, 21-15, 21-14 in 65 minutes to advance to the pre-quarterfinals.
In the mixed doubles Rohan Kapoor and N Sikki Reddy, went down 18-21, 21-9, 21-18 to Chinese Taipei’s Hong Wei and Lee Chia Hsin in 53 minutes.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, currently ranked 17, will take the court on Wednesday. She faces world No. 18 Zhang Yiman of China in her opening match.
Results at the Japan Open will count towards players’ qualifying rankings for the Paris Olympics. The qualification window for badminton started on May 1 this year.
Advertisement
