India’s HS Prannoy and the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made their way into the quarter-finals of the 2023 China Masters Super 750 tournament on Thursday.
Rankireddy and Shetty, who have dropped from World No 1 after their Asian Games campaign to No 5, got the better of Japan’s Akira Koga and Taichi Saito 21-15, 21-16 in 46 minutes.
The Indian top seeds managed to keep their nose ahead in a tightly contested opening game as they extended an 11-9 lead to 14-11. They then completely outplayed the Japanese pair in the latter stages to pocket the first 21-15.
Rankireddy and Shetty carried forward the new found momentum in the second game as they opened up an 11-5 lead before wrapping the match 21-16 even as Koga and Saito tried their with a good fight back.
This win marked the Indian pair’s second win against the Japanese shuttlers in their third meeting.
Later, Prannoy defeated Magnus Johannesen of Denmark 21-12, 21-18 in just 40 minutes.
The eighth seeded Indian controlled the proceedings right from the start as he opened up an 11-7 lead. The Danish shuttler could win only five more points in the first game as Prannoy won it 21-12.
The second game saw the left-handed Johannesen put up a better fight, but he still trailed 8-11 before levelling the score at 11-11.
Prannoy, however, soon increased the pace of the game and opened up a decisive 18-15 lead. Even though Johannesen fought back with a slew of points, the Indian had enough left in the tank to wrap up the match 21-18.
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