PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy, Satwik-Chirag in quarters of Badminton Asia Championship
If there ever was an ideal mindset to go into a match with An Se Young for PV Sindhu, this would be it. A dominant 21-12, 21-15 confidence-fortifying win over Han Yue of China to take her head to head brag to 4-0. Sindhu will need every ounce of that belief if she has to overturn a career 0-5 record against the Korean in the Badminton Asia Championship quarterfinal.
Against Yue, Sindhu was at her attacking best, using her vertical advantage, striking the shuttle at a high point, moving into position early. Fast cross-drops, long lifts and high tosses were her arsenal to harry the Chinese, even as Yue was overpowered the regulation smashes. Sindhu took the lead early getting to 11-6 in quick time, and kept widening the gap to breeze to the first game.
Yue got a word in edgeways at 8-7 in the second, but her lead was short lived, as Sindhu kept consent pressure on her with a cross-attack that never waned. From 12-11, Sindhu pulled away never to be reined back, winning in 33 minutes.
Prannoy beats Chico
India’s most consent shuttler HS Prannoy, seeded 8th at the tournament, got the better of Indonesian Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo, 21-16, 5-21, 21-18 in 64 minutes.
Having won the opening game, Prannoy seemed to be taking a breather in the brief second, readying for the third. Up and running in the decider, the Indian built up a 12-6 lead, but saw Chico catch up at 15-15. The rally exchanges were at a frenetic pace now, but it was after receiving some medical attention that Chico came out guns blazing.
But Prannoy was prepared for the upping of the ante, and continued to pepper his opponent with body smashes that worked well for the Indian. The victory came on the second match point, as he set up a quarters clash with Japanese Kanta Tsuneyama, ranked No 15.
Prannoy, ranked No. 9, leads him in head to head 3-2, though the last match went Tsuneyama’s way.
Kidambi Srikanth, however, could not shake off Kodai Naraoka, and went down 21-14, 20-22, 21-9 against the young Japanese.
Satwik-Chirag vs Daddies
India’s star doubles pairing, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, set up a clash against Mohammad Ahsan- Hendra Setiawan, the Daddies, after making the Last 8 in Dubai. It was a swift victory, 21-13, 21-11 in 32 minutes against Koreans Yong Jin and Sung Seung Na in a Round 2 match.
The Daddies lead the match up 3-2, though the Indians won the last encounter on the way to the India Open title in 2022. The two pairings haven’t faced each other since last January.
