Kidambi Srikanth, HS Prannoy crash out of Japan Open badminton
September 22, 2017
India’s Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy bowed out of the Japan Open Superseries badminton tournament, losing in straight games to their respective opponents in men’s singles quarterfinals.
In a battle that lasted for 45 minutes, Prannoy’s opponent Shi Yugu raced to game point 20-13 in the opening game in no time. The Indian tried to step up the game and scored two points in succession before the Chinese player converted the game point.
The second game started in a much more competitive fashion, with both players exchanging serves and the scores were tied at 5-5. Scoring five consecutive points thereafter, Shi dominated the proceedings in the second half of the game to advance to the semifinal in straight games.
HS Prannoy had previously registered straight-game wins over Anders Antonsen and Hsu Jen Hao to reach the third round.
On Thursday, Olympics medallists P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal crashed out of the $ 325,000 Japan Open, suffering straight-game defeats in second round. Sindhu lost to Nozomi Okuhara of Japan while Saina went down to Carolina Marin of Spain.
Chopra-Sikki advance
In mixed doubles, Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy beat YKim Ha and Seung 21-18, 9-21, 21-19 to enter the semis.
