Sai Praneeth entered the quarterfinals with a straight games victory in the second round on Thursday, a day which saw all the other Indians in the fray exiting.
World Championships bronze medallist B Sai Praneeth is the lone Indian standing at the BWF China Open World Tour Super 1000 tournament in Changzhou.
Sai Praneeth entered the quarterfinals with a straight games victory in the second round on Thursday, a day which saw all the other Indians in the fray exiting. This included the shocking defeat of women's world champion PV Sindhu.
The 24-year-old Sindhu, playing her first tournament after becoming the first Indian to win a World badminton title three-and-a-half weeks ago, lost down fighting to Thailand's Pornpawee Chochuwong 12-21 21-13 21-19 in a contest that lasted two minutes short of an hour.
It was Sindhu's first defeat in four outings to the 21-year-old Thai currently ranked 15th in the world, 10 places below Sindhu.
However, there was encouraging result in men's singles section, with B Sai Praneeth booking his quarterfinals date following a 21-19 21-19 win over Chinese Lu Guang Zu.
Sai Praneeth will face Indonesia's seventh seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting on Friday for a place in the semifinals. Ginting got the better of India's former Commonwealth Games champion Parupalli Kashyap in three games that lasted an hour and 10 minutes. Kashyap lost 21-23 21-15 12-21.
It was also curtains for the Thailand Open men's doubles titlists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. Also playing their first tournament since the historic win in Bangkok more than a month and a half ago, Satwik and Chirag bowed out 19-21 8-21 to fourth-seeded Japanese duo of Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda in 34 minutes.
It was a double blow for Satwik, who also exited in the mixed doubles partnering Ashwini Ponnappa. The Indian duo lost 11-21 21-16 12-21 to Japanese pair of Yuki Kaneko/ Misaki Matsutomo in three games, 11-21 21-16 12-21.
RESULTS (INDIANS ONLY, RD 2):
Men's singles: Parupalli Kashyap lost to 7-Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (INA) 21-23 21-15 12-21, B Sai Praneeth bt Lu Guang Zu (CHN) 21-19 21-19,
Men's doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/ Chirag Shetty lost to 4-Takeshi Kamura/ Keigo Sonoda (JPN) 19-21 8-21
Women's singles: 5-PV Sindhu lost to Pornpawee Chochuwong (THA) 21-12 13-21 19-21
Women's doubles: Ashwini Ponnappa/ N Sikki Reddy lost to 2-Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi (JPN) 12-21 17-21
Mixed doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/ Ashwini Ponnappa lost to Yuki Kaneko/ Misaki Matsutomo (JPN) 11-21 21-16 12-21
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