B Sai Praneeth advances to quarterfinals of Thailand Masters 2023
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B Sai Praneeth won a tough match against Jeon Hyeok Jin on Thursday in the men's singles round of 16 at the Thailand Masters 2023. The other Indian players participating, failed to go past the round of 16, but the victory kept India's participation alive in the competition in Bangkok.
B Sai Praneeth, who earned a bronze medal at the world championships, defeated Jeon Hyeok Jin in three games by scores of 24-22, 7-21, and 22-20 in one hour and 18 minutes. The Indian badminton player, who is ranked 49th in the world, had a three-point advantage over Jeon Hyeok Jin at the half and stopped his opponent's late comeback in the opening game to grab a 1-0 lead.
In the second game, Jeon Hyeok Jin, who is ranked 65th in the world in badminton, turned the tables on B Sai Praneeth to even the match. In the third game, the Indian badminton player made a comeback and briefly led the South Korean shuttler 13-9.
Jeon Hyeok Jin, however, tied the score at 16-16 and had the chance to win the match at 20-19. Then, former world number 10 B Sai Praneeth scored three straight points to set up a quarterfinal matchup with Chinese champion Li Shi Feng. At the start of the day, Kiran George defeated Hong Kong's Lee Cheukyiu in the opening game, but she was eliminated after losing 22-20, 15-21, and 20-22 in the other two games.
In the women's singles, Ashmita Chaliha won the first game of her match against Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt of Denmark. She did, however, suffer a heartbreaking 21-19, 13-21, and 29-27 loss.
Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto, the eighth-seeded team in mixed doubles, were defeated 21-19, 21-16 by the unseeded Indonesian team of Akbar Bintang Cahyono and Marsheilla Gischa Islami. In their matchup with the Chinese world No. 24 mixed doubles team of Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping, Rohan Kapoor-N Sikki Reddy were defeated 21-11, 21-10.
In another tough match, Thai players Tanadon Punpanich and Wachirawit Sothon defeated Ishaan Bhatnagar and Sai Pratheek K in the men's doubles 21-14, 18-21, 26-24.
