Press Trust of India
Birmingham, March 10: Unheralded Indian shuttler B Sai Praneeth scripted one of the biggest wins of his career, stunning two-time Olympic silver medallist and former World No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the opening round of the prestigious All England Championship here.
In a match that lasted 50 minutes, Praneeth punched way above his weight as he eked out a 24-22, 22-20 win over three-time champion and second seed Lee Chong Wei in a men’s singles match late last night. He will next take on Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Vittinghus. The Indian had retired midway in their only meeting in 2013 French Open. Besides, ace Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma too entered the second round of the USD 550,000 tournament at the Barclaycard Arena here.
World No. 2 Saina, who is making a comeback after a long injury lay-off, dispatched Commonwealth Games champion Michelle Li of Canada 21-17, 21-12 to set up a clash with Thailand’s Busanan Ongbumrungphan. World No. 10 Srikanth too showed the door to England’s Rajiv Ouseph, a silver medallist at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, 21-17, 21-12. The Guntur lad will meet Japan’s Kento Momota.
Young Sameer also dished out a superb performance as he dismantled Hong Kong’s Hu Yun 21-10, 21-14 in another men’s singles match. For P V Sindhu, it turned out to be yet another disappointing tournament as she lost 21-18, 17-21, 12-21 to Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand.
