HS Prannoy defeats compatriot Lakshya Sen in thrilling encounter

KUALA LUMPUR: India's ace shuttler HS Prannoy defeated his junior compatriot Lakshya Sen in a thrilling three-set encounter to advance to the men's singles round of 16 of the ongoing Malaysia Open on Wednesday.

Lakshya and Prannoy battled for an hour and 15 minutes, eventually, Prannoy won the gruelling match by 22-24,21-12,21-18 after coming back from a game down in a thriller.

World Championships bronze medallists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty got the better of the Korean duo of Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho by 21-16, 21-13 in the first round of the tournament.

Earlier on Day one, ace Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth were knocked out of the tournament in the first round. Saina, a two-time Commonwealth Games champion who suffered multiple injuries and a lack of form in 2022, lost 12-21 21-17 12-21 to Han Yue of China in the Super 1000 tournament.

Playing at the Axiata Arena in the first tournament of the BWF World Tour 2023 season, Saina Nehwal, the world No. 30 in BWF Rankings, stormed back into the contest after going down in the first game.

However, the Indian badminton player was unable to maintain her intensity against the world No. 11 opponent and ultimately lost the match. Kidambi Srikanth was also eliminated in the first round of the men's singles at the Malaysia Open.

The world championships silver medalist, ranked 13th, lost 19-21, 14-21 to world No. 17 Kenta Nishimoto of Japan. On the other hand, the Women's duo of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly won India's only match on the first day of the competition.

The Indian duo, who won bronze at the Commonwealth Games 2022, advanced to the round of 16 by defeating Hong Kong's Yeung Nga Ting and Yeung Pui Lam 21-14, 21-19.