Ace Indian shuttler HS Prannoy and Asian Games gold-winning duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty entered the quarterfinals in their respective matches at the China Masters tournament in Shenzhen on November 23.
In the men's singles event, the only Indian survivor, Prannoy, secured a comfortable 21-12, 21-18 victory over Magnus Johannesen of Denmark in the pre-quarterfinal match that lasted exactly 40 minutes.
Seeded eighth, Prannoy is set to face third-seeded Japanese Kodai Naraoka in the quarterfinals. Alongside Prannoy, the top-seeded men's doubles pair of Satwik and Chirag advanced to the quarterfinals with a 21-15, 21-16 victory over the Japanese duo of Akira Koga and Taichi Saito.
Their next opponents will be the Indonesian pair of Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin. In the match against Johannesen, Prannoy started strong, taking a 6-1 lead in the first game. Although the Dane narrowed the gap to 8-6 and then 14-11, Prannoy, drawing on his experience, engaged in extended rallies to tire his opponent and secured the first game.
The second game was fiercely contested, with both players battling until they reached 15 points. The score was tied at 18 apiece before Prannoy emerged victorious, ultimately winning the match and securing his spot in the quarterfinals.
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Meanwhile, prominent Indian shuttlers Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth had contrasting outcomes, leading to their early elimination from the competition on November 22. Sen currently ranked 17th in the world and suffered a defeat against the seventh-seeded Chinese player Shi Yuqi with a score of 19-21, 18-21.
On the other hand, Srikanth, positioned at 24th in the world, engaged in a three-game battle against the world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand. Srikanth lost with scores of 15-21, 21-14, 13-21.
Both Sen and Srikanth are working towards securing positions within the top 16 rankings by April 28 next year to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Furthermore, young Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat was eliminated from the tournament following a defeat to Japan's Kenta Nishimoto, with a score of 17-21, 14-21, in a match that lasted 46 minutes.
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