Sindhu, Praneeth in quarters, Prannoy out

Basel, August 22

B Sai Praneeth dished out a superlative performance to stun world No. 8 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and progress to the quarterfinals but HS Prannoy’s fight ended with a narrow loss at the BWF World Championships. 

World No. 19 Praneeth took just 42 minutes to dispatch sixth seeded Ginting of Indonesia 21-19 21-13 to set up a likely clash with another Indonesian Jonatan Christie.

Prannoy shows fight

Earlier, Prannoy showed glimpses of brilliance, especially in the opening game, but couldn’t stop world No. 1 Kento Momota from registering a 21-19 21-12 win, his fifth victory over the Indian in as many encounters.

In the opening game, Praneeth entered the break with an 11-8 advantage. Ginting managed to turn the tables at 14-12 but Praneeth pocketed the opening game with three straight points from 18-19. In the second game, Praneeth reeled off six straight points to make it 14-12 and then kept on marching ahead as Ginting crumbled. Kidambi Srikanth lost to Kantaphon Wangcharoen 14-21 13-21 in the pre-quarterfinals. PV Sindhu beat world No. 10 Beiwen Zhang 21-14 21- 6 to move into the quarterfinals. Sindhu will take on Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei who beat Kim Ga Eun 24-22 24-22. Mia Blichfeldt beat Saina Nehwal 15-21 27-25 21-12— PTI