Follow Us
Copenhagen, August 21
Star Indian shuttlers HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen progressed to the men’s singles second round of the World Championships with straight-game wins over Finland’s Kalle Koljonen and Mauritius’ Georges Julien Paul, respectively, here today.
World No. 9 Prannoy, who reached the quarterfinals in the last two editions, saw off the left-handed Koljonen 24-22 21-10 to extend his head-to-head count against the Finnish player to 3-0.
Sen then streamrollered Paul 21-12 21-7 in 25 minutes to follow Prannoy into the second round.
Former world No. 1 Kidambi Srikanth made a first-round exit, going down to 14th seed Kenta Nishimoto of Japan 14-21 14-21 in a 47-minute battle.
The match between Prannoy and Koljonen turned into a tight battle in the opening game with the Finnish player quick to open up an 8-4 lead. But Prannoy reeled off seven straight points to grab an 11-8 lead at the break.
An exciting battle ensued after the resumption with Koljonen eventually grabbing three game points after pushing one away from the forehand of his opponent.
A calm Prannoy, however, saved all three game points before hitting wide to once again hand over the advantage to his rival.
A backhand block at the net helped him save another game point but he sprayed the next one into the net as it was 22-21 in favour of the Finnish player. However, Koljonen couldn’t capitalise as he hit long and lost a net duel to gift Prannoy the lead, who converted with a brutal crosscourt smash.
The second game started on an even keel with Prannoy leading 6-5 at one stage. However, the Indian soon zoomed to a six-point lead at the break with a straight smash.
The Indian kept moving ahead with Koljonen finding it hard to negotiate the angles and deceptions of Prannoy, who gained 12 match points and never looked back.
Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.
3