India’s top-ranked badminton player HS Prannoy continues his good form with another impressive win in the ongoing BWF World Championship 2023 on Thursday, August 24. Prannoy beat the former champion Loh Kean Yew in the pre-quarterfinal round to progress to the last eight but India’s other participant Lakshya Sen suffered a heavy defeat today.
Riding on his red-hot form, Prannoy displayed a fighting spirit to register a 21-18, 15-21, 21-19 win over the former world champion. He struggled in the second set but made a stunning comeback in the third set to pull off a major upset in the tournament. He will next face the current world no.1 Denamark’s Viktor Axelsen who beat China’s Chou Tien Chen on Thursday.
On the other hand, the 22-year-old Lakshya Sen suffered a 21-14, 16-21, 21-13 defeat against Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn. Sen is currently ranked 11th in the world and won the bronze medal in the last edition of the tournament but seemed out of rhythm against Vitidsarn today.
In the men’s doubles event, the world no.2 pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty progressed to the quarterfinal round with a comfortable win over Indonesia’s Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin by 21-15, 19-21, 21-9. Satwik-Siraj pair claimed the third spot in the last edition and are tipped to bag the gold medal this year. They will face the 11th seed Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark in the quarterfinal round against whom they have notably lost the last five encounters.
However, it was not a memorable day for Indian women’s shuttlers in the round of 16 on Thursday. The women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand endured a big defeat against the top-ranked pair of China’s Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan by 14-21, 9-21 in the round of 16, ending Indian women’s stint in the World Championship 2023.
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