After winning their respective Round of 32 matches on Tuesday, Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy will square off in the pre-quarterfinals of the men’s singles competition at the Japan Open badminton tournament.
Former No. 1 Srikanth, who is presently ranked No. 20, defeated Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, who was ranked No. 8, 21-13, 21-13, in a round of 32 match that lasted 43 minutes. In eight encounters, he had defeated the Chinese Taipei shuttler twice.
The world No. 7 and defending All England champion Li Shi Feng of China was later defeated by eighth seed HS Prannoy, ranked 10th in badminton, 21-17, 21-13, in 49 minutes. The Indian defeated the Chinese shuttler for the third time in a row.
Now, on Thursday, Srikanth and Prannoy will compete in the BWF Super 750 tournament’s pre-quarterfinal round.
Akane Yamaguchi, the top-ranked Japanese shuttler, defeated Aakarshi Kashyap, the world’s 42nd-ranked player, 17-21, 17-21, in the first round of the women’s singles competition.
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand defeated Sayaka Hobara and Yui Suizu Japan in the women’s doubles 11-21, 21-15, 21-14 in just over an hour to progress to the pre-quarterfinals.
In the meanwhile, Chinese Taipei’s Hong Wei and Lee Chia Hsin upset Rohan Kapoor and N Sikki Reddy in the mixed doubles match 21-18, 9-21, 18-21, eliminating the Indian duo in 53 minutes.
On Wednesday, two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu, who is presently ranked 17, is scheduled to compete. In her first match, she will face China’s Zhang Yiman, the 18th-ranked player in the world.
Notably, results in the Japan Open will factor towards players’ Olympic qualification rankings for Paris in 2024. This year’s badminton qualification period began on May 1.
Featured Image: Badminton World Tour