Paris: Indian shuttlers HS Prannoy and B Sai Praneeth advanced to the men’s singles second round with contrasting wins in the French Open Super Series badminton tournament here Wednesday.
US Open champion Prannoy, sent packing Denmark Open finalist Korea’s 37-year-old veteran Lee Hyun Il 21-15, 21-17, while Praneeth made amends for his opening round exit at Odense last week with a 21-13, 21-23, 21-19 hard-fought win over Thailand’s Khosit Phetpradab.
Praneeth, however, will look to take some tips from Prannoy for his next match as he is likely to take on three-time Olympic silver medallist and current World No. 7 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia. Prannoy, who has beaten the Malaysian twice this season, will face Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus next.
However, the mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy suffered a 15-21, 12-21 loss to fourth- seeded Indonesian combo of Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir.
Up against an experienced opponent, whom he had lost to twice in very close games, Prannoy gave ample display of his new found prowess as he tore through the opening game, without giving any chance to Lee.
In the second game, Prannoy jumped to a 8-5 lead and even though Lee held a slender 11-10 lead at the break, the Indian jumped again regain control to break ahead to 13-11. Lee clawed back with two points before Prannoy moved ahead to comfortably seal the issue. The Indian controlled play at the net with some deft touches and whenever the opportunity came, he was quick to put the shuttle away with hard smashes.
Praneeth, on the other hand, had to go through the grind as his unheralded opponent sprang a surprise to take the second game after the Indian had pocketed the first game having broken off at 7-7.
In the second game, Praneeth blew a 15-6 lead as 35th ranked Khosit managed to force the match into the decider. Praneeth held a 11-8 lead in the third game, only to see it vapourise as Khosit turned the tables, reaching 19-16. But the Indian regained his poise and reeled off five points to win the deciding game and the match.
“It was close. I never expected him (Khosit) to be so tough. He played some very good badminton. However, I kept my cool and that helped to advance,” Praneeth said after the match.