Japan Open Highlights: HS Prannoy advanced to the quarterfinal after defeating compatriot Kidambi Srikanth in the second round at the Japan Open 2023. Earlier, Lakshya Sen defeated Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama 21-14, 21-16 to enter the quarterfinal of the Super 750 tournament on Thursday, 26th July 2023. World No.3 Men’s Doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also advanced to the last eight. Women’s Doubles pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand meanwhile bowed out of the tournament. They lost to Japanese pair Chiharu Shida and Nami Matsuyama 21-23, 19-21.
Also Read: Lakshya Sen, Chirag-Satwik enter 2nd round, Sindhu bows out of Japan Open 2023
Men’s Singles
Lakshya Sen BEAT Kanta Tsuneyama – 21-14, 21-16
HS Prannoy BEAT Kidambi Srikanth – 19-21, 21-9, 21-9
Men’s Doubles
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty BEAT Jeppe Bay/Lasse Molhede – 21-17, 21-11
Women’s Doubles
Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand LOST TO Nami Matsuyama/Chiharu Shida – 21-23, 19-21
Men’s Singles
Lakshya Sen vs Kanta Tsuneyama
Lakshya Sen’s confidence continues to grow as he has made his third successive quarterfinal appearance in the BWF Tour this year.
Right from the start, he dominated the contest against Kanta Tsuneyama in the second round. He was leading in the first game initially 7-5. He then took four successive points to move into the interval with a six-point cushion. Lakshya Sen continued to lead the contest after the interval and went on to grab the first set comfortably 21-14.
In the second game, Tsuneyama gave a good fight and with three straight point took a 7-6 lead for the first time in the game. Lakshya Sen however fought his way back and with four successive points went up 10-7. The Indian entered the intreval with a two-point lead.
Tsuneyama came back after the interval and too a slender lead. He was leading the contest until 16-15. Lakshya fought back and with a straight smash down the line takes a 17-16 lead. He continued to attack and took the next four points and closed out the contest in straight games.
HS Prannoy vs Kidambi Srikanth
HS Prannoy had to come from behind to beat world No. 20 Srikanth 19-21, 21-9, 21-9. Both the players were in an intense battle in the opening game of the match. There was very little to separate both the players.
Srikanth eked past Prannoy and entered the interval with a slender 11-10 lead. The neck-to-neck battle continued until they were 18-all. Srikanth soon caught the momentum and went ahead 20-18. Despite saving a point, Prannoy made a error immediately by hitting wide as Srikanth clinched the first game.
Prannoy responded back in style and began to dominate the contest. He raced away to the interval in the second game with a 11-4 lead. He came back with eight points on the trot ran away with a 19-5 lead and soon took the contest into the third game.
In the third game too Prannoy was in complete control and went on to seal the contest. It was only his third win against Srikanth out of the nine matches against his senior compatriot.
Men’s Doubles
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty vs Jeppe Bay/Lasse Molhede
World No.2 pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty cruised into the quarterfinals of the Japan Open. The third seeded duo sailed past Denmark’s unseeded Jeppe Bay and Lasse Molhede with a 21-17, 21-11 victory in a match that lasted just over 35 minutes.
The Indian women’s pairing of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly suffered an exit as they lost against Nami Matsuyama and Chiraru Shida in the Ro16 23-21, 21-19.
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