Prannoy advances to Malaysia Open quarterfinal

Prannoy beat Dwi Wardoyo 21-9, 15-21, 21-16 in a closely-fought contest that went on for an hour and four minutes to progress into the quarterfinal.

India’s H. S. Prannoy in action. | Photo Credit: AP

India’s HS Prannoy downed Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo at the Malaysia Open Round-of-16 on Thursday.

Prannoy beat Dwi Wardoyo 21-9, 15-21, 21-16 in a gruelling contest that went on for an hour and four minutes to progress into the quarterfinal.

Chico played some lovely shots but was inconsistent during the rallies as Prannoy established his five-point advantage at 17-12 in the deciding game. Another razor-sharp straight jump smash followed by another shot at the backline gave Prannoy six match points.

The Indonesian saved two before sending one to the net as Prannoy celebrated.

In the previous round, Prannoy lived up to his new World No.8 status with a come-from-behind 22-24, 21-12, 21-18 victory over compatriot Lakshya Sen, ranked 10th, in an edgy opening round contest that went for little over an hour.

Prannoy will either face Ng Tze Yong of Malaysia or Kodai Naraoka of Japan in the last eight.

Earlier, Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand lost 13-21, 21-15, 17-21 to Bulgaria’s Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva in the women’s doubles pre-quarterfinals.

Treesa and Gayatri will meet France duo of Margot Lambert and Anne Tran in their next tournament at India Open Super 750 next week.

With inputs from PTI