Sindhu, Lakshya Sail Into Singapore Open Quarters, Prannoy Out
The fourth seeded Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, however, had to sweat it out to progress to the quarterfinals
Singapore: Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen advanced to the quarterfinals with contrasting wins, while HS Prannoy bowed out after paying the price for a string of errors in the closing stages of the USD 1 million Singapore Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Thursday. Sindhu, a former world champion, took just 37 minutes to get the better of Riko Gunji of Japan 21-9 21-12 in her second round match.
But a stern test awaits Sindhu as she is pitted against top seed An Se Young of Korea in the last-eight round. Sindhu has never beaten the Olympic champion but lost eight times with the last defeat being at the China Open last year.
Lakshya Sen, a 2021 world championship bronze winner, also progressed to the quarterfinals after second seed Kunlavut Viditsarn, an opponent against whom he had a 4-8 record, retired after just two points due to a back problem.
The Almora shuttler will now take on Japan's Koki Watanabe next.
The fourth seeded Indian men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, however, had to sweat it out to progress to the quarterfinals, beating Chinese Taipei duo of Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan 21-15 11-21 21-18 in a contest that lasted exactly an hour.
Satwik and Chirag, the Asian Games champions, will next face Malaysia's Khai Xing Kang and Aaron Tai.
The Indian mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto too progressed to the quarterfinals, beating the Japanese combination of Yuta Watanabe and Maya Taguchi 8-21 21-17 21-16.
They will next meet the winner of the match between Korean pair of Kim Jae Hyeon-Jang and Ha Jeong and third seeded Malaysian combination of Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei.
Prannoy, however, was left to rue a dramatic collapse in the decider as he went down 18-21 21-16 15-21 to home favourite Loh Kean Yew in a 61-minute contest.
The 33-year-old Indian looked in control after opening up a 14-11 lead in the third game, but a sudden rush of unforced errors, mostly at the net, allowed Loh to win 10 of the next 11 points and seal the match.
Prannoy made a strong start, opening up an 11-7 lead at the interval in the opening game. However, Loh gradually took control of the rallies by cutting down on his lifts and forcing the Indian to play from awkward positions. The Singaporean moved ahead 14-12 and earned six game points. Prannoy saved four of them before eventually spraying one wide.
The Indian also had to contend with a noticeable sideways drift inside the arena and misjudged his length on a few occasions early in the second game despite racing to a 6-4 lead with some crisp winners.
The pace of the rallies increased thereafter as Loh unleashed a series of steep smashes to close the gap. But Prannoy remained in control at the mid-game break, leading 11-6 after repeatedly capitalising on weak returns from the Singaporean.
Prannoy continued to pressure Loh by targeting his forehand corner and stretched the lead to 16-10 as the home favourite struggled with his smashes and net play.
Loh attempted a comeback with a series of deceptive returns to narrow the deficit to 12-16, but Prannoy responded with a timely backhand smash before sealing the game with a sharp cross-court winner.
The Indian looked set for victory after surging to an 8-4 lead in the decider with Loh conceding too many cheap points. However, a string of unforced errors allowed the Singaporean to claw back to 8-9 despite losing both his challenges.
An intense rally helped Loh draw level at 10-10 before the home favourite edged ahead at the interval amid loud cheers from the crowd.
Prannoy again regained momentum after the change of ends, moving to 14-11 as Loh committed a few tactical errors, including giving away easy lifts. But the Indian soon lost his rhythm, repeatedly finding the net to allow Loh to level at 14-14.
Five more unforced errors from Prannoy dramatically changed the complexion of the contest as Loh reeled off points to move to 19-14. The Singaporean soon earned five match points and converted the first to complete the comeback win.
