BWF World C’ships, Day 4 blog: Prannoy beats Lakshya; Satwik-Chirag, Arjun-Dhruv in QFs too

We will leave you with this unreal rally:

Key updates from Day 4:

• Men’s singles: HS Prannoy comes from a game down to defeat compatriot Lakshya Sen in a thrilling match. In the quarterfinal he will face Zhao Jun Peng, who stunned 5th seed Lee Zii Jia.
• Men’s doubles: Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun reach the quarterfinals with a brilliant comeback win against Singapore’s Terry Hee and Loh Kean Hean. To face three-time former champions Ahsan/Setiawan next.
• Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty reach the quarters with a straight-games win against Denmark’s Jeppe Bay and Lasse Molhede. To face defending champions Hoki/Kobayashi next.
• Women’s singles: Saina Nehwal puts up a fight after a slow start but loses in three games against Thai 12th seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the round of 16.

Lakshya Sen’s reaction (Via BWF Media team)

“I was not very clinical in the finishing today. I was playing much better in the earlier rounds. Depending on the player... Prannoy is a steady player, lot of the shuttles keep coming back. Overall in the crucial stages, could have played a bit more attacking game. Prannoy is looking pretty strong, I hope he goes the distance in this one. He has a good match next, good luck to him.”

Men’s doubles: The madness in men’s doubles continues as the Olympic champions are also out in the round of 16. Not entirely sure it qualifies as an unexpected result given their form but an upset nonetheless.

Men’s doubles: Olympic champions: OUT

World No 1: OUT

All England champions: OUT

2021 Worlds bronze medallists: OUT

Read: HS Prannoy after beating Lakshya Sen – ‘It’ll give me a lot of confidence’

Men’s singles quarterfinals lineup: 

Viktor Axelsen vs Anthony Ginting 

Jonatan Christie vs Chou Tien Chen 

Loh Kean Yew vs Kunlavut Vitidsarn 

HS Prannoy vs Zhao Jun Peng 

Women’s singles quarterfinals lineup: 

Akane Yamaguchi vs Carolina Marin 

An Seyoung vs Han Yue 

Michelle Li vs Chen Yu Fei 

Busanan Ongbamrungphan vs Tai Tzu Ying

Men’s singles: Class of 2018 (Junior Worlds) will be represented in the quarterfinals after all... Vitidsarn is through with a comprehensive win.

Men’s singles:

Defending champion Loh Kean Yew is through to the quarterfinal as Ng Ka Long Angus retires with an injury. He awaits the winner of Vitidsarn vs Nishimoto... where the Thai is on the verge of a big win.

Elsewhere, Ginting defeated the returning Shi to set up a quarterfinal with the favourite Viktor Axelsen

Vinayakk: In the quarter with Kento Momota, Lee Zii Jia, Lakshya Sen and Srikanth Kidambi... it is HS Prannoy vs Zhao Jun Peng in the quarterfinal to decide a medallist. Prannoy vs Zhao Jun Peng is incidentally the repeat of the Indonesia Open semifinal where Prannoy had another giant-killing run before Zhao won that.

Men’s singles, R16, Lakshya Sen 21-17, 16-21, 17-21 HS Prannoy: An incredible win for HS Prannoy! He follows up his victory against Kento Momota by coming from a game down to beat Lakshya Sen. Plenty of thrilling rallies in that match with HSP holding firm when he needed to most. His defence, especially, was so impressive. He’s into the quarterfinals.

Men’s singles, R16, Lakshya Sen 21-17, 16-21, 17-19 HS Prannoy: Three straight points for Lakshya! Can he turn this around? HSP must surely be under pressure.

Men’s singles, R16, Lakshya Sen 21-17, 16-21, 15-19 HS Prannoy: Lakshya smashes one down the line but he still trails by four. Prannoy is almost home.

Men’s singles, R16, Lakshya Sen 21-17, 16-21, 12-16 HS Prannoy: A four-point lead for Prannoy now as he smashes one down the line. It’s now or never for Lakshya.

Men’s singles: Elsewhere, Zhao Jun Peng is still giving it a good go against Lee Zii Jia. 12-14 in the decider there.

Men’s singles, R16, Lakshya Sen 21-17, 16-21, 12-14 HS Prannoy: Lakshya misses an inside-out cross-court smash before nailing one in the next point. He still trails by two, though.

Men’s singles, R16, Lakshya Sen 21-17, 16-21, 10-12 HS Prannoy: Lakshya smashes one into the net and Prannoy lets out a huge roar. He wants this bad alright.

Men’s singles, R16, Lakshya Sen 21-17, 16-21, 8-11 HS Prannoy: Prannoy is pulling away! He’s dictating play and hardly missing his mark. Lakshya has perhaps been a bit too passive since the second game and will need to make a move soon.

Men’s singles, R16, Lakshya Sen 21-17, 16-21, 5-5 HS Prannoy: A brilliant jump smash from SHP, right into the corner. But Lakshya follows that up with a superb cross-court smash of his own and we’re back level.

Men’s singles, R16, Lakshya Sen 21-17, 16-21, 3-3 HS Prannoy: Prannoy hits one wide and it’s all-square in the decider.

Men’s singles, R16, Lakshya Sen 21-17, 16-21 HS Prannoy: We are going to a decider! Prannoy wins four straight points to get to 20 before closing out the second game. Lakshya was a bit erratic in that game and paid the price for it. We’re in for an exciting third game.

Men’s singles, R16, Lakshya Sen 21-17, 15-16 HS Prannoy: Two superb shots from Lakshya – landing on either sideline – to make it a one-point game. He would surely want to close this out in straight games.

Men’s singles, R16, Lakshya Sen 21-17, 12-13 HS Prannoy: Prannoy wins three straight points after the interval but Lakshya pulls one back. It remains a one-point game in the second.

Men’s singles: Meanwhile, Zhao Jun Peng has taken the opening game against Lee Zii Jia on court 1.

Men’s singles, R16, Lakshya Sen 21-17, 11-10 HS Prannoy: Lakshya wins consecutive points and takes the smallest of leads to the second game interval. Prannoy is being patient and we can surely expect him to give a big push now.

Men’s singles, R16, Lakshya Sen 21-17, 8-8 HS Prannoy: Lakshya has drawn level in the second game after trailing by three points. A superb smash by him which leaves HSP face-first on the floor.

Men’s singles, R16, Lakshya Sen 21-17, 2-6 HS Prannoy: Prannoy is off to a solid start in the second game. Lakshya is being rushed and might need to get more aggressive.

Men’s singles, round of 16, Lakshya Sen 21-17 HS Prannoy: Prannoy faced a whole lot of game points but managed to save three with sharp exchanges, one of them including a magnificent defensive block. But Lakshya had a big enough cushion to see it through. (And yes, both players are tackling this without their coaches).

Women’s singles R16, Saina Nehwal 17-21, 21-16, 13-21 Busanan Ongbamrungphan: That’s it, Busanan beats Saina in three games. The Indian legend was excellent in the second half of the opener and the second game, but she seemed to run out of steam in the end. The 12th seed from Thailand makes her way to the quarterfinals.

Women’s singles R16, Saina Nehwal 17-21, 21-16, 13-19 Busanan Ongbamrungphan: Busanan is nearly home, she’s put her foot down when she needed to most. Saina just doesn’t have the intensity at the moment.

Men’s singles, round of 16, Lakshya Sen 18-13 HS Prannoy: Lakshya Sen in control of the opening game post interval but HS Prannoy with a quiet fist pump after a good attacking point to make it 13-17. Then Lakshya plays a marvellous defensive point to go up 18-13.

Women’s singles R16, Saina Nehwal 17-21, 21-16, 10-15 Busanan Ongbamrungphan: Busanan produces a stunning winner from a tough position. She’s pulled well ahead now.

Men’s singles, round of 16, Lakshya Sen 14-8 HS Prannoy: Will confirm again once the players change ends, but it looks like the players have decided to play without coaching for this match. Even though both of them have different coaches... that is nice to see.

Women’s singles R16, Saina Nehwal 17-21, 21-16, 9-11 Busanan Ongbamrungphan: The Thai player has managed to pull slightly ahead in the decider. Saina will need to make a move soon. She seems to have slowed down a bit.

Men’s singles, round of 16, Lakshya Sen 11-8 HS Prannoy: Even start to this match. Prannoy won the rally of the match so far, a gruelling exchange that ended with Lakshya on the floor. But the youngster has played with good control otherwise. A handy lead into the interval.

Women’s singles R16, Saina Nehwal 17-21, 21-16, 7-7 Busanan Ongbamrungphan: Saina hustles hard and draws as error from Busanan. We’re level in the decider and it’s impossible to predict who’ll take this. Crucial few minutes coming up.

Vinayakk – Men’s singles, round of 16, Lakshya Sen vs HS Prannoy: Thanks to the click of a computer, here we are... with a match that will eliminate one of India’s strong medal hopefuls. Lakshya and Prannoy have both been in terrific recent form and it is a shame they had to meet this early. Lakshya holds the H2H lead 2-1 (only BWF event meetings). But Prannoy ran through Lakshya the last time they met. This is nearly impossible to call for me.

Women’s singles R16, Saina Nehwal 17-21, 21-16, 3-5 Busanan Ongbamrungphan: A couple of errors from Saina and Busanan has the early lead in the decider.

Women’s singles R16, Saina Nehwal 17-21, 21-16 Busanan Ongbamrungphan: We are going to a decider! Busanan reduced the deficit in the second game but Saina’s lead was big enough to see her through comfortably. The Indian will have to be the favourite heading into the third game but the question remains – can she keep up the intensity?

Men’s singles: The most anticipated match of the say is about to start too. It’s an all-Indian battle on Court 3 as Lakshya Sen takes on HS Prannoy for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Official: Satwik-Chirag will next take on defending champions Hoki-Kobayashi.

Women’s singles R16, Saina Nehwal 17-21, 11-6 Busanan Ongbamrungphan: A solid lead for Saina heading into the second game interval. She’s very much in command and dictating play. Can she keep up this intensity, though?

Vinayakk: Kashyap to Saina during the break – “You are standing back. Just get your lengths right, move... smash, half smash. Net pe chadna, consistently. Good length, half smash, net. Good length, half smash, net. Accha khel rahi hai. The intensity at the start, that was the problem. Now you are playing well. Mast khel.”

Women’s singles R16, Saina Nehwal 17-21, 4-2 Busanan Ongbamrungphan: Saina is continuing to play with confidence and aggression in the second game. She has the early lead.

Women’s singles R16, Saina Nehwal 17-21 Busanan Ongbamrungphan: Ah well, it wasn’t to be for Saina as Busanan wins consecutive points to close out the opener. But the Indian can take great confidence from the way she fought back in that game. Parupalli Kashyap trying to pump her up in the changeover, telling her to remain aggressive and go for her shots.

Women’s singles R16, Saina Nehwal 17-19 Busanan Ongbamrungphan: Six straight points for Saina! She’s very much in this now.

Women’s singles R16, Saina Nehwal 16-19 Busanan Ongbamrungphan: Saina continues to fight back in the opener, she has reduced the deficit to three points now. Busanan seems to be feeling the pressure too. This is excellent from the Indian.

Women’s singles R16, Saina Nehwal 11-17 Busanan Ongbamrungphan: Nicely done by Saina again. She blocks a smash before sending one down the line herself. The Indian isn’t giving up on this first game.

Women’s singles R16, Saina Nehwal 8-16 Busanan Ongbamrungphan: Excellent point by Saina, she moved Busanan around before putting an inside-out cross-court smash away. That should give her confidence.

Women’s singles R16, Saina Nehwal 5-13 Busanan Ongbamrungphan: A superb smash down the line, followed by a service error, and finally a fine drop winner – Busanan is being aggressive and well in front.

Women’s singles R16, Saina Nehwal 3-11 Busanan Ongbamrungphan: Well, it’s been one-way traffic so far. Busanan simply hasn’t allowed Saina to find any rhythm so far. The Indian needs a change in strategy surely.

Vinayakk: Saina Nehwal vs Busanan Ongbamrungphan. The Thai shuttler has a wretched record against PV Sindhu, but has a 4-3 H2H against Saina Nehwal and has won the last 4 meetings.

Women’s singles R16, Saina Nehwal 2-7 Busanan Ongbamrungphan: The Thai player is off to a strong start and is catching Saina off balance. The Indian is still feeling her way into the match.

Women’s singles: Saina Nehwal will be in action on Court 2 now. The Indian legend will take on 12th seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan from Thailand for a spot in the quarterfinals. It’s the 8th meeting between these two. Saina won the first 3, Busanan won the last four.

Men’s doubles R16, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 21-10 Jeppe-Lasse: A comfortable win for the Indian seventh seeds. They were dominant after a close-ish start to the match. Satwik and Chirag continue to look like strong medal contenders.

Men’s doubles R16, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 16-6 Jeppe-Lasse: Another error by the Danes... it’s been the story of their match so far. The Indians are motoring along to the finish line.

Men’s doubles R16, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 11-4 Jeppe-Lasse: A huge lead for Satwik-Chirag heading into the second game interval. There hasn’t really been a long rally in the match so far, just short and sharp points. But the Indians have remained the more disciplined of the two pairs.

Men’s doubles R16, Satwik-Chirag 21-12, 4-0 Jeppe-Lasse: A brilliant backhand flick into the corner from Chirag and the Indians get a four-point lead early in the second game.

Men’s doubles R16, Satwik-Chirag 21-12 Jeppe-Lasse: Make that six straight points. Satwik-Chirag storm through the second half of the opener after a tight start to the match. They would want to carry the momentum and start the second game strongly too.

Men’s doubles R16, Satwik-Chirag 19-12 Jeppe-Lasse: A quick rally with the Indians defending well again before Chirag finishes it off by finding the open court. Four straight points for Satwik-Chirag.

Men’s doubles R16, Satwik-Chirag 16-12 Jeppe-Lasse: The Indians have pulled ahead to a four-point lead. They’ve raised their intensity since the interval.

Men’s doubles R16, Satwik-Chirag 11-10 Jeppe-Lasse: The Danes win three straight points to reduce the deficit but the Indians manage to take a slender lead to the first game interval. Satwik-Chirag have had to do more defending so far and might look to change that.

Men’s doubles R16, Satwik-Chirag 8-5 Jeppe-Lasse: Chirag with a solid diving effort but he can’t keep the shuttle in and the Danes make it three points in a row.

Men’s doubles R16, Satwik-Chirag 6-2 Jeppe-Lasse: Quick start to the match and the Indians have pulled ahead. The Danes making a number of errors.

Men’s doubles: Time now for the round of 16 match between Indian seventh seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty and Denmark’s Jeppe Bay/Lasse Molhede.

Here’s a look at the Indian matches still to come today:

Also read – Badminton: Carolina Marin is back

Women’s singles: Rio Olympics and three-time World Championships gold medallist Carolina Marin gets a thrilling win over ninth seed He Bing Jiao to reach the quarterfinals.

Arjun MR and Dhruv Kapila after reaching the quarters (via BWF TV):

Arjun: We feel good. As every match, we were prepared for this one as well. We used different tactics compared to our last match because these guys are fast on the legs so we had to be extra ready. We had many nervous situations in the game but luckily we were able to get over them. We’re looking to go all the way through because we’ve had many close matches with good pairs. I feel this is our time, when matches our falling on our side as well. Winning such matches boosts your confidence and we just have to keep focussing and fight for the next one. We have played them thrice I think and all those matches were close, so with the confidence we have I think we’re ready to challenge them (on playing the Daddies next).

Dhruv: The game plan was to just keep the shuttle down because they were fast enough to keep the drive game on for us. I just felt a bit of stretch while hitting smashes towards the end (on taking a medical timeout). We are ready for that (on playing the Daddies next).

Here’s a look at the Indian matches still to come today:

Men’s doubles quarterfinals look-ahead: Dhruv-Arjun will next take on the legendary Ahsan-Setiawan... the Daddies, as they are known. They are three-time former champions (and have actually not lost a complete match as a pair). The Indians trail 0-4... but if you have followed them closely, you will know they have been close. Three of those four matches went the distance (and the other an early retirement).

On Court 2, if you are interested, a mouth-watering women’s singles clash. Carolina Marin time. An exciting all-leftie battle with He Bing Jiao.

Men’s doubles, round of 16: And another big upset! They keep rolling on this year at the men’s doubles. Still no medal at World Championships for Minions. This one perhaps understandable as Gideon is still only finding his way back but Sukamuljo & he have to wait longer for a podium finish here. What a win for Lane/Vendy.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21, 21-15, 21-16 Hee/Loh: They have done it! After dropping the opening game, the Indians bounce back and are into the quarterfinals. Relentless from Dhruv at the backcourt and he closes it out. Big celebrations as you would expect. A 58-minute win.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21, 21-15, 20-15 Hee/Loh: There are 5 match points for the Indians! One given up trying a flick serve by Arjun.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21, 21-15, 19-14 Hee/Loh: Top stuff from Arjun at the net, wonderful movement across and it is a four-point lead again. And soon enough, 5 points again.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21, 21-15, 17-14 Hee/Loh: That’s relentless attacking from Loh on Dhruv. Three point game.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21, 21-15, 17-13 Hee/Loh: The Indians take a 5-point lead and it is now down to four after a good attacking point by the SGP pair.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21, 21-15, 15-12 Hee/Loh: There have been a few errors from Arjun in the backcourt, but he gets his backhand right that time... and a solid lead. And then Dhruv makes a service error. The nerves will kick in.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21, 21-15, 13-11 Hee/Loh: The lead is down to 2 now and Dhruv has called for some medical attention. The left upper thigh region... some magic spray. We are good to go.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21, 21-15, 11-7 Hee/Loh: The Indians in a 11-7 lead at the final change of ends... the finish line in sight. Can they hold on? “Accept that we are nervous, we are not vending machines,” says Mathias Boe at the change of ends before some tactical advice. “Relax and enjoy it,” he closes it.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21, 21-15, 10-7 Hee/Loh: A five-point lead for the Indians comes down to two... two really good points by Terry/Loh, putting the Indians under pressure on defence.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21, 21-15, 7-4 Hee/Loh: A top, top rally. Remember this point at the end of things. Dhrvu with great movement across the net, front court and Arjun pounces at the end.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21, 21-15, 4-1 Hee/Loh: A good start to the decider by the Indians.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21, 21-15 Hee/Loh: Arjun’s former partner reckons this is the Indians’ to lose. The SGP pair did try a bit too hard to close points out early. But remains to be seen if they will continue doing that in a decider.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21, 21-15 Hee/Loh: Looked like the Singaporeans weren’t going at top gear in the back end of that game. Dhruv/Arjun close things out and force the decider. Loh/Terry saved three game points but the damage had been done before that.

STAT: The first time in 9 appearances at the Worlds that Michelle Li has reached quarterfinals...

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21, 15-11 Hee/Loh: Getting closer to a decider here... the Singaporeans are perhaps a bit too eager to kill points and are making errors because of that. Steady from the Indians. As I say that, 9-15 to 11-15.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21, 11-7 Hee/Loh: Good lead this in the 2nd game for the Indians. It was important mentally to reset after dropping the opener the way they did.

Meanwhile, a brilliant result for Canada’s Michelle Li as she defeats the former World Champion. Only the 2nd win of her career against May.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21, 8-5 Hee/Loh: Good attack from the Indians... good lead.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21, 5-5 Hee/Loh: Even in the early stages of the second game.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-21 Hee/Loh: Game, Singapore. Keeping in line with how the match has gone, a sharp service return winner. That 7-point streak hurt the Indians badly, because the match was even otherwise.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 18-20 Hee/Loh: Game points for SGP but a service error from Terry.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 17-19 Hee/Loh: Great rally, longest too so far, 24 shots (classic MD). The Indians get that point.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 16-19 Hee/Loh: Gift from SGP. Error on serve. But the Indians give it back right away after another backcourt error from Arjun.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 15-18 Hee/Loh: The lift goes long for Dhruv, Arjun misses a forehand and it is trouble for Indians. 7 points on the trot!

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 15-16 Hee/Loh: The Indians opened up a 4 point lead at 15-11 but Terry & Loh have turned it around with 5 in a row.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 11-9 Hee/Loh: The Indians with the lead at mid-game interval and meantime, confirmation that the legendary Daddies await them next.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 10-8 Hee/Loh: A 2-point lead for the Indians on the run of some good (planned) short points... they spoke a fair bit about that yesterday.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 5-6 Hee/Loh: A little bit of nerves for the Indians? Errors they will want to avoid... but it is still close enough.

Men’s doubles, round of 16, Dhruv/Arjun 2-4 Hee/Loh: Men’s doubles round of 16 and instead of the 8th seeds from Denmark vs 9th seeds from Malaysia we have an unseeded India vs Singapore clash. Both Dhruv/Arjun & Terry/Loh had superb wins yesterday. Good start by the Singaporeans, but even rallies.

Men’s doubles, round of 16: Time for India vs Singapore...

Women’s Singles: An Se Young is through to the quarterfinals of the Worlds again... (where she could have faced PV Sindhu.)

Dhruv/Arjun will be in action soon on Court 1 but a thriller on Court 2 meanwhile.

Hello everyone and welcome to our live coverage of the BWF World Championships.

And then there were 16... each. It’s pre-quarterfinals day at Tokyo 2022 and shuttlers from around the world will take one decisive step closer to the podium. For India, there are four matches to look forward to... one of them an all-Indian clash unfortunately early in the tournament as HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen face each other for a spot in the quarterfinal. Saina Nehwal will fancy her chances of setting up a quarterfinal vs nemesis Tai Tzu Ying, while Satwik-Chirag take on a Danish pair who stunned former world No 1 pair from Malaysia. Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun are the surprise presence here after their brilliant upset against Danish seeds Astrup/Rasmussen.

Reminder, a place in the semifinals guarantees a medal so all these players are two wins away from that.

Key updates of Day 3:

• Men’s singles: HS Prannoy beats Kento Momota for the first time in eight meetings to set up a round of 16 clash with compatriot Lakshya Sen.
• Men’s doubles: MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila stun eighth seeds Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen to reach the round of 16. First win for the Indians against a top 10 pair.
  
• Men’s doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty begin their campaign with a comfortable win to reach the round of 16.
• Men’s singles: Lakshya Sen reaches the round of 16 with a straight-games win against Spain’s Luis Penalver.
  
• Men’s singles: Srikanth Kidambi, the 2021 silver medallist, loses in straight games to China’s unseeded Zhao Jun Peng in the round of 32.
• Women’s doubles: Ashwini Ponnappa/Sikki Reddy, Pooja Dandu/Sanjana Santosh, Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand and Shikha Gautam/Ashwini Bhat bow out

Screenshots in the blog courtesy BWF / Viacom 18 / Tournament Software

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