All England Open: Sai Praneeth stuns World No.2 Lee Chong Wei to enter second round

It all started in a routine fashion, the Malaysian ace looked the best on the court in the initial exchanges and raced to a 15-7 lead to leave the Indian to do all the hardwork in the opening game. But Praneeth had read a different script, and mounted a comeback by winning eight points in a row to level things up at 15-15. Both players matched each other point for point from there on in a race to win the first game. Although, Praneeth failed in his first two attempts to finish the game, he took the third game point to win 24-22.

Everyone expected a big comeback from the World No. 2 in the second game, and he once again led the game for the most parts and looked on course for a victory with a 17-12 lead. As was the story in the first game, Praneeth pocketed four points in a row and caught up with the champion at 19-19. Although Chong Wei had a chance to seal the second game in his favour, the never-say-die attitude of the Indian saw him saving the game point before jumping ahead to claim it 22-20.

World No. 10 Kidambi Srikanth also entered the second round on Wednesday by defeating Rajiv Ouseph 21-17, 21-12 to set up an encounter with World No.3 Kento Momota of Japan.

After losing the first game, Michele Li raced off her blocks in the second game and took a 7-4 lead against the 2012 Olympics bronze medallist. But the Canadian’s challenge fell by the wayside as Saina progressed steadily to take the second game 21-12 to finish the second game. The 25-year old will next face Busanan Ongbumrungpan in the second round on Thursday.

The women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa and the men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy also bid goodbye to the tournament after suffering first round defeats.