HS Prannoy and doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy advanced to the quarter-finals, while compatriot Lakshya Sen bowed out of the BWF World Badminton Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark
World No. 9 Prannoy overcame the world No. 7 and the 2021 world champion, Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew, 21-18, 15-21, 21-19 in a 69-minute marathon in the round of 16 match.
The decider was a closely-fought affair and both players were tied at 19-all before the Prannoy came up trumps under pressure. This was his fourth win over Loh Kean Yew in five meetings. The intense contest saw both players leave it all on the court.
“My physio has some work tonight to get me ready for tomorrow,” said the Indian, “But I have been able to play back-to-back good matches. That’s been a positive change in the last few years. My body has been able to keep up.”
Lakshya Sen, seeded 11th, however, came up short in a three-game affair against world No. 3 Thailand’s Kunalvut Vitidsarn. The Indian went down 14-21, 21-16, 13-21 in 68 minutes.
Lakshya , a former world championships bronze medalist, lost the opening game but was able to force the match into a decider. The reigning Commonwealth Games champion went toe-to-toe against Vitidsarn in the opening exchanges before the Thai won four straight points to take a 13-9 lead. Lakshya, playing catch up, never recovered and slumped to a defeat.
In the doubles, Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy fell behind but fought back to beat Indonesia’s Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin 15-21, 21-19, 9-21.
India’s women’s doubles campaign, meanwhile, ended after Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost 21-14, 21-9 to top seeded China’s Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan. The Chinese duo are three-time world champions and Tokyo Olympics silver medallists.