Prannoy stuns World No 2 Kento Momota to enter pre-quarters of BWF World Championships

H. S. Prannoy stunned second seed Kento Momota in straight games to record a sensational win while reigning Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen also sailed into the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals of the World Championships here on Wednesday.

Unseeded Prannoy rose above expectations to shut the door on crowd favourite and two-time former world champion Momota 21-17 21-16 in a second round tie.

Incidentally, it was Prannoy’s first win over Momota in eight matches. In their previous clashes, the Indian won only one game against his higher-rated Japanese rival.

Prannoy to face Sen in Round of 16

Prannoy and Sen will face each other in an all-Indian last 16 clash on Thursday.

However, last edition’s runner-up Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of after a straight game defeat to world number 32 Zhao Jun Peng.

Srikanth went down against his Chinese counterpart 18-21, 17-21 in a match lasting only 34 minutes.

The 29-year-old was out of sorts in the opening game as it took only 12 minutes for Zhao to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Indian, already on the back foot, tried to up the ante in the second game and led 16-14 but too many unforced errors helped Zhao secure the victory.

Doubles results

Earlier, the Indian men’s doubles pair of M. R. Arjun and Dhruv Kapila moved to the pre-quarterfinals but Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy made a second round exit from the prestigious tournament.

The unseeded Arjun and Kapila upstaged eighth seeds and last edition’s bronze medallists Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark 21-17 21-16 in their second round match.

They will face Hee Yong Kai Terry and Loh Kean Hean of Singapore next.

Ponnappa and Sikki, on the other hand, were handed a 15-21 10-21 loss by top seeds Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan of China in 42 minutes.

The other women’s doubles pairing of Pooja Dandu and Sanjana Santosh’s also crashed out of the tournament, going down to third seeds Lee So Hee and Shin Seung Chan of Korea 15-21 7-21.

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 to storm into Round of 16, where the duo will be up against Denmark’s Jeppe Bay and Lasse Molhede.