Lagatar24 Desk
Tokyo, Aug 25: At the World Championships on Thursday, India’s H S Prannoy staged a spirited comeback to beat compatriot and CWG champion Lakshya Sen to enter the singles quarterfinals.
The men’s doubles team of Dhruv Kapila and M R Arjun kept up their impressive run to advance to the last eight stage. Lakshya and Prannoy fought valiantly for one hour and fifteen minutes before Prannoy narrowly defeated his teammate by scores of 17-21, 21-16, and 21-17. After Prannoy’s victory, the two Indians met for the fourth time this year; they were 2-2 all-time against one another.
Zhao Jun Peng of China will now be Prannoy’s opponent in the quarterfinals.
The men’s doubles teams from India of Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also advanced to the quarterfinals along with Prannoy.
Saina Nehwal, who won the bronze medal at the Olympics, was eliminated from the World Championship after losing to Busanan Ongbamrungphan in the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals.
The 32-year-old lost to her Thai opponent 17-21 21-16 13-21, dropping her head-to-head record versus the Indian to 5-3.
Saina was confident after the late comeback in the previous game, which she had led 11-7 at the half. She continued to dominate terms while playing aggressively, sending the game into a decider.
Up until the half, the third game was well matched, but Ongbamrungphan began to gain momentum and quickly built a five-point advantage while Saina gradually began to fade.
In the end, Ongbamrungphan, 26, who has now defeated Saina five times in a row, had seven match points and qualified for the quarterfinals. Ongbamrungphan soon placed Saina under strain after she jumped out to an early 11-3 lead in the first game.
The two-time medalist at the World Championships was able to close the lead to 17-19, but Ongbamrungphan maintained her composure to win the opening game.
