Japan Open 2023 | HS Prannoy prevails over Srikanth, Lakshya & Satwik/Chirag win too
On another day at the Japan Open 750, a host of Indians progressed to the quarter-finals. In an all-Indian pre-quarters men's singles match, HS Prannoy prevailed over Kidambi Srikanth in three games, Lakshya Sen beat Kanta Tsuneyama, and Satwisairaj Rankireddy/ Chirag Shetty progressed too.
The day started with an easy win for Sen over his Japanese competitor. The 21-year-old Commonwealth Games gold medallist won 21-14, 21-16 against Tsuneyama in straight games. His win came only in 50 minutes and will now face Kiko Watanabe of Japan in the quarters.
Later, Prannoy beat Srikanth in three games 19-21, 21-9, 21-9 win to advance to the quarters. The WR-10 Indian looked in total command after narrowly losing the first game, and never gave many scoring opportunities to Srikanth. Now he will be up against WR-1 from Denmark, Viktor Axelsen.
In the men's doubles, the pair of Satwik and Chirag, who are chasing the WR-1, beat the Danish pair of Lasse Molhede and Jeppe Bay. They won 21-17, 21-11. They will face Lee Y and Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei on Friday.
Unfortunately, the women's doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, who are making a comeback after a short break, lost against WR-2 Nami Matsuyama and Chiraru Shida 21-23, 19-21.