Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, March 15: Ongoing All England Championship saw victorious starts from Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy. In the Birmingham competition, Sen and Prannoy defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen and Tzu Wei Wang, respectively, in straight games.
Sen, the finalist from the previous year, defeated Chou in 48 minutes, 21-18, 21-19. Prannoy, ranked ninth in the world, defeated Wang in 49 minutes, winning 21-19, 22-20.
Sen had a 15-9 lead and was cruising in his opening game, but Chen kept his cool and rallied to tie the score at 17-17. Sen, on the other hand, maintained his composure to win. The second game was expected to be close at 5-5, and it was.
Chen almost clawed back at 18-19, but then a service fault from him and a thunderous return from Sen sealed the loss of the match. As far as Prannoy is concerned, he got out to a commanding 11-4 lead in the first game of his encounter. But, Wang produced a remarkable comeback to tie the score at 19 all while applying tremendous pressure to his rival.
However Prannoy pulled off two thunderous smashes to earn two points in a row and move beyond the finish line in the opening game. Wang, though, remained persistent. He had Prannoy work hard as the scoreboard once read 16-16.
Prannoy seized the lead at 19-17, but Wang managed to tie the score. With a match point in hand, he had the opportunity to win the match, but his opponent stopped him. Yet, he didn’t waste the second opportunity.
Prannoy will face Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the Round of 16 match on March 16. Sen is scheduled to face Denmark’s Anders Antonsen on the same day.
