Prannoy enters Japan Open quarters; Srikanth out

OSAKA: HS Prannoy breezed into the Japan Open Super 750 quarter-finals with a stunning straight-game win over Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, but it was curtains for his compatriot Kidambi Srikanth here on Thursday.

Prannoy, who had reached the quarter-finals of the World Championships last week, continued his rampaging run as he saw off the eighth-seeded Loh 22-20, 21-19 in the men’s singles second round match. This was Prannoy’s third victory over the World No. 7 Singaporean in four meetings.

The 30-year-old Indian will next face Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen in the quarter-final stage. Meanwhile, Srikanth, who had shocked World No. 5 Lee Zii Jia from Malaysia on Wednesday, could not extend his campaign as he went down 10-21, 16-21 to local favourite and World No.17 Kanta Tsuneyama.