BWF Worlds: Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy win, Praneeth loses

22.08.2022 - 19:17 timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Sen's senior team-mates Kidambi Srikanth and H S Prannoy also won their respective first round matches. India also registered twin wins in women's and mixed doubles competition on the opening day which saw B Sai Praneeth bow out after losing in three games to world number 4 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei.

The 20-year-old Sen, who had returned with a bronze on his debut in Spain last year, prevailed 21-12 21-11 over an erratic Vittinghus in his opening match.

Sen will next face Luís Enrique Penalver of Spain. Praneeth, a 2019 bronze medallist, put up a brave effort before going down 15-21 21-15 15-21 to Chen in little over an hour.

It was yet another forgettable outing in Tokyo for Praneeth, following his struggles at last year's Olympic Games, where he participated without a proper coach or physio to bow out early.

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Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy breezed into the quarterfinals with a stunning straight-game win over former world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore but it was curtains for Kidambi Srikanth at the Japan Open Super 750 tournament here on Thursday. A former world number 8, Prannoy, who had reached the quarterfinals of the world championships last week, continued his rampaging run as he saw off eighth seeded Loh 22-20 21-19 in a 44-minute second round men's singles match. This was Prannoy's third win over the world number 7 Singaporean in four meetings.

Japan Open: HS Prannoy Enters Quarterfinals, Srikanth Loses

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