HS Prannoy stuns Kento Momota; sets up clash with Lakshya Sen
Indian duo will face each other in the pre-quarters of the BWF World Championships
HS Prannoy can smile now! The experienced Indian shuttler stunned former world champion Kento Momota, to book a pre-quarterfinals berth in the BWF World Championships in Tokyo on Wednesday. The unseeded Prannoy displayed great grit and remarkable composure to prevail over the two-time world champion in two games. Interestingly, this is Prannoy’s first win over Momota in eight matches.
On to the next round ☑️#WorldChampionship2022 pic.twitter.com/dMyhbBpmnR
— PRANNOY HS (@PRANNOYHSPRI) August 24, 2022
Earlier, Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen downed Spain’s Luis Penalver 21-17, 21-10, to enter the pre-quarterfinals. With this result, Lakshya sets up a last-16 clash with Prannoy. The match will take place on Thursday.
Srikanth crashes out
In other results, the eighth-seeded men’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy thrashed Guatemala’s Solis Jonathan and Anibal Marroquin 21-8 21-10. With this win, the Indian pair stormed into the Round of 16. The duo will be up against Denmark’s Jeppe Bay and Lasse Molhede in the next round.
MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila also moved to the pre-quarterfinals while Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy made a second-round exit from the tournament. However, last year’s runner-up Kidambi Srikanth suffered a straight-game defeat to world number 32 Zhao Jun Peng in the second round.
Meanwhile, the unseeded Arjun and Kapila stunned the last edition’s bronze medallists Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark 21-17 21-16. They will face Hee Yong Kai Terry and Loh Kean Hean of Singapore in the next round.