China Masters 2023: HS Prannoy, Satwik/Chirag start with wins

HS Prannoy in men's singles and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in men's doubles progressed to the second round of the China Masters Super 750 badminton tournament with straight-game wins over their opponents on Tuesday.

While Prannoy got the better of Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei, Satwik and Chirag defeated Sean Vendy and Ben Lane of England.

31-year-old Prannoy, who had missed a couple of tournaments since the Asian Games in October due to a back injury, registered a 21-18, 22-20 win over the world number 12 Chen in the opening round, thus avenging the loss that he suffered last week in Japan Masters.

Prannoy appeared determined to win the match today and took no half-measures in the match. After starting the first game with a big winner, Prannoy was lagging 6-9 at one stage.

Prannoy turned the tables with four straight points to make it 12-10. Chen fought back at 12-14 but the Indian shuttler didn't give much of a chance to his rival to comfortably pocket the opening game.

Chou started the second game with a 6-3 lead, but Prannoy kept him on his toes, despite lagging for the most part. The Indian had managed to eke out an 8-6 lead, but Chen moved to a 12-10 lead and retained the lead till 18-16 before Prannoy surpassed him to secure a spot in the Round of 16.

In men's doubles, top seeds Satwik and Chirag, who are the reigning Asian Games gold medallists, comfortably prevailed 21-13, 21-10 over England's Ben Lane and Sean Vendy.

The world no. 5 Indian duo will meet Japan's Akira Koga and Taichi Saito in the Round of 16.

However, in women's singles, Aakarshi Kashyap found Zhang Yi Man of China too hot to handle, going down 12-21, 14-21 in 33 minutes. With Aakarshi going out, India is left without any representation in the category.

Priyanshu Rajawat, Lakshay Sen, and Kidambi Srikanth will take the court tomorrow in the men's singles first round.