Prannoy stuns Christie, Lakshya beat Lu in Singapore Open

Star Indian shuttlers HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen advanced to the men’s singles second round with stunning wins at the USD 1,000,000 Singapore Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Wednesday. Prannoy, a 2023 World Championships and Asian Games bronze medallist, produced a composed performance to prevail 10-21 21-12 21-18 over the world No. 5 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in just over an hour.

It was the 33-year-old Indian’s first win over Christie in five years, having last defeated him at the 2021 Indonesia Open.

Prannoy, who played epic roles in India’s 2022 Thomas Cup triumph and the recent bronze medal win in Denmark, will face Singapore’s former world champion Loh Kean Yew next.

Later in the day, Lakshya, a 2021 World Championships bronze winner, saw off world No. 24 Lu Guang Zu 21-17 21-15 in 42 minutes to set up a second-round clash with second-seeded Thai Kunlavut Vitidsarn.

The Indian mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto also advanced to the second round after beating Malaysia’s Wong Tien Ci and Lim Chiew Sien 21-14, 20-22, 21-13 in their opening match.

However, Kidambi Srikanth and Malvika Bansod couldn’t cross the opening hurdle.

Srikanth, a former world No. 1 and a 2021 World Championships silver medallist, fought his heart out before succumbing 20-22 21-19 17-21 to local hero Loh Kean Yew, who avenged last week’s loss to the Indian.

Malvika, who is on a comeback trail after recovering from an ACL injury, also couldn’t go the distance despite putting up a brave effort, losing 21-11, 19-21, 12-21 to Chinese Taipei’s Lin Hsiang Ti.

In women’s doubles, Panda sisters — Rutaparna and Swetaparna — lost 9-21, 17-21 to Thailand’s P. Aiamvareesrisakul and S. Janpeng in another match.

Prannoy vs Christie: Coming into the match with a 3-7 head-to-head record, Prannoy found himself against the wall again when Christie zoomed past him in the opening game.

The Indonesians jumped to an 11-5 lead at the break before surging to 16-9. He won five of the next six points to pocket the first game.

Prannoy, however, gathered himself quickly after the change of sides and slowly but steadily established an 11-7 advantage at the interval. The Indian didn’t give Christie any chance thereafter and roared back into the contest.

The decider was a rollercoaster ride as both players fought hard in a battle for supremacy, resulting in frequent exchanges of leads.

If Christie was up 6-3 at the start, Prannoy turned the tables to lead 13-11. The duo moved neck and neck thereafter. Christie managed to grab an 18-16 lead at one stage but the Indian won the last five points to emerge victorious.