HS Prannoy enters Japan Open quarterfinals, Srikanth loses to Kanta Tsuneyama

Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy breezed into the quarterfinals with a surprising straight-game win over former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore nevertheless it was curtains for Kidambi Srikanth on the Japan Open Super 750 event .

Loh Kean Yew 🇸🇬 and Prannoy H. S. 🇮🇳 take intention for the quarterfinals.#BWFWorldTour #JapanOpen2022 pic.twitter.com/4T4qh1G7a1

— BWF (@bwfmedia) September 1, 2022

A former world quantity 8, Prannoy, who had reached the quarterfinals of the world championships final week, continued his rampaging run as he noticed off eighth seeded Loh 22-20, 21-19 in a 44-minute second spherical males’s singles match. This was Prannoy’s third win over the world quantity 7 Singaporean in 4 conferences. The 30-year-old Indian will subsequent face Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen, who gained the bronze medal on the world championships final week, within the quarterfinal stage. Prannoy, at the moment ranked world quantity 18, has crushed Chen of their final two conferences, however general, he’s 3-4 behind. Srikanth, who had shocked world quantity 5 Malaysian Lee Zii Jia on Wednesday, nonetheless, couldn’t lengthen his run as he went down 10-21 16-21 to native favorite and world quantity 17 Kanta Tsuneyama.

The Japanese had defeated Srikanth on the Korean Open in 2019 of their solely assembly previous to this. In a battle between two highly-skilled gladiators, it was Prannoy who confirmed nerves of metal as he fought again from 11-19 and 6-14 down within the two video games to come back up trumps towards his younger rival.

Impressive @PRANNOYHSPRI sails into the quarterfinals of the #JapanOpen2022 ✅⚡#BWFWorldTour#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/7G1W01gjMh

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) September 1, 2022

Prannoy made begin however rapidly misplaced momentum along with his opponent recording 5 straight factors from 7-8 to maneuver to a 11-8 lead on the break. Loh continued to dominate the rallies after resumption along with his fast-paced sport serving to him to take a seat comfortably at 19-11 at one stage. But Prannoy had different concepts. The Indian quickly produced a six-point burst to attract parity at 17-17, and although Loh grabbed three sport factors, the Singaporean erred twice along with his backhands going to the online. Then, Prannoy reeled off the remaining factors to earn the bragging rights. In the second sport, Loh as soon as once more got here out with all cylinders blazing to zoom to a 11-4 benefit. He rode on brief rallies, whereas the Indian faltered along with his size as his cross-court returns went broad.

But Prannoy confirmed his steely resolve as he quickly scripted a superb restoration to claw again at 16-16 after a web change. Prannoy tried to take off the tempo within the rallies and make Loh transfer round along with his angled returns. He additionally produced some stable physique assaults, which Loh couldn’t negotiate, and his web play was additionally superior than his opponent.

The Indian quickly grabbed two match factors. Loh saved one earlier than crusing broad as Prannoy continued to impress along with his never-say-die perspective.