China Masters: Super Prannoy rolls into quarters

Shenzhen, November 23

Ace Indian shuttler HS Prannoy and Asian Games gold winning pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty entered the quarterfinals of their respective events at the China Masters Super 750 here on today.

Prannoy, the only surviving Indian in the men’s singles event, registered a comfortable 21-12 21-18 win over Magnus Johannesen of Denmark in their pre-quarterfinals match that lasted 40 minutes.

Prannoy, seeded eighth here, will now take on the third-seeded Japanese Kodai Naraoka in the last-eight round.

Top seeds Rankireddy and Shetty also progressed to the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles with a 21-15 21-16 win over Japanese duo of Akira Koga and Taichi Saito.

Against Johannesen, Prannoy started on a bright note and used his smart play to race to a 6-1 lead in the first game before the Dane reduced it to 8-6 and then to 14-11. But the Indian used all his experience and engaged his opponent in long rallies to tire him out and pocket the first game.

The second game was an intense affair as both the shuttlers fought tooth and nail till 15 points and then were tied at 18 apiece before Prannoy got the better of his opponent to close out the contest and seal his spot.