Kuala Lumpur, June 28: India’s HS Prannoy faced stiff resistance before prevailing against local hero Daren Liew as the Indian shuttler progressed to the men’s singles second round of the Malaysia Open, here on Tuesday.
A former top-10 player, Prannoy, who had reached the semifinals of Indonesia Open Super 1000 earlier this month, emerged a 21-14 17-21 21-18 winner in 62 minutes. The 29-year-old from Kerala, ranked 21st currently, will face fourth seeded Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei next at the Super 750 badminton tournament.
However, B Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma made early exits.
While Praneeth went down to world number six Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia, Sameer lost to world number 8 Jonatan Christie, also from Indonesia.
The 30-year-old Praneeth, currently ranked world number 19, lost 15-21 21-19 9-21 to Ginting in a 50-minute men’s single match.
Sameer fought for 49 minutes before losing 14-21 21-13 7-21 in another match.
In doubles, women’s pairing of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy also bowed out of the tournament after losing 15-21 11-21 to Japanese duo of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida, seeded sixth.
Prannoy was slow off the mark but opened up a healthy 11-7 lead at the break. In the end, it was another return at the baseline which gave Prannoy the bragging rights.
After the change of sides, Liew took a 7-4 advantage with Prannoy going to the nets repeatedly. The Indian soon turned the tide with his smashes on his rival’s forehand. After the break, Prannoy tried to play at a good pace but a series of unforced errors handed four game points to Liew and he sealed it with a smash.
In the decider, Prannoy moved up 6-3 but Liew again clawed his way back with three points, including an excruciating rally which left Prannoy flat on the ground.
Prannoy managed to eke out a three point cushion at the interval.
The second half of the decider was a roller-coaster ride as Liew kept breathing down Prannoy’s neck but the Indian ensured he had the last laugh, sealing the contest with another powerful smash which Liew sent wide. (PTI)
