Badminton
Australian Open 2023: Priyanshu stuns Srikanth, Prannoy overwhelms Ginting in quarters; Sindhu loses
Priyanshu, 21, defeated former world no. 1 Kidambi Srikanth in straight games (21-13, 21-8) in just 30 minutes. Prannoy, meanwhile, came from behind to beat Ginting in 73 minutes.
HS Prannoy and Priyanshu Rajawat will face off each other in the semifinals of the Australian Open Super 500 in Sydney on August 5, 2023.
Priyanshu Rajawat and HS Prannoy won their respective men's singles quarterfinal matches in contrasting manners to set up a semifinal clash at the Australian Open Super 500 on Friday in Sydney.
Priyanshu, 21, defeated former world no. 1 Kidambi Srikanth in straight games (21-13, 21-8) in just 30 minutes to reach his second semifinal on the BWF World Tour. He will now have his eyes set on winning his second World Tour title this season. In April, Priyanshu, the world no. 31, won the Orleans Masters Super 300 title in France.
Prannoy, meanwhile, followed the script of his pre-quarterfinal win against unseeded Chi Yu Jen when he faced off top seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.
After losing the opening 16-21, Prannoy, who now understandably uses the space to get a grasp of his opponent's tactics, made a turnaround in the second game, winning 21-17.
Prannoy, ranked ninth in the world, did not let Ginting make a turnaround since then. He cruised to a 4-0 lead in the third game and then to 15-8. At this stage, Ginting attempted a fight back, winning five straight points, but Prannoy remained alert and punished the Indonesian shuttler with overhead smashes, angled returns and sound placement of the shuttle from the net. He would eventually win the game 21-14.
The match lasted an hour and 13 minutes in testimony to his sound fitness.
However, India's campaign in women's singles ended as fifth seed PV Sindu suffered a straight-game (21-12, 21-17) defeat to fourth seed Beiwen Zhang of the USA.
