Arjun-Kapila became the first Indian men’s doubles team to reach the quarterfinals of the BWF world championships. Prannoy HS beat Lakshya Sen by scores of 17-21, 21-16, and 21-17.
HS Prannoy of India defeated Lakshya Sen in an all-Indian match on Thursday at the BWF World Championships 2022 in Tokyo, Japan, and advanced to the men’s singles quarterfinals.
In the round of 16, he overcame a game deficit to defeat ninth-seeded Lakshya Sen 17-21, 21-16, 21-17. The veteran had already defeated former world champion Kento Momota, therefore this was his second consecutive upset victory.
In the last eight, Prannoy will play China’s Zhao Jun Peng. He will be guaranteed his first BWF World Championships medal if he wins.
Lakshya Sen gradually gained the upper hand by selecting the shuttles early and pushing Prannoy to win the first game. To take the second, he engaged Lakshya in protracted rallies after becoming aware of the plan.
In the decisive game, he attacked Lakshya, controlling the rally speed and putting on a strong defence against his advances. he led for the most of the game and won when Lakshya sent a return long.
Indians scripting history at the BWF World Championships
After defeating Singapore’s Hee Kong Yai Terry and Loh Kean Hean 18-21, 21-15, 21-16, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila became the first Indian men’s doubles combination to get to the quarterfinals of the world championships.
Afterwards seventh-seeded Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy also followed them. The duo defeated Denmark’s Jeppe Bay and Lasse Molhede 21-12, 21-10.
Chirag-Satwik will next play defending world champions Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi. While Arjun-Kapila will face Indonesia’s ‘Daddies’ Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan.
However, Olympic medalist and former world No.1 Saina Nehwal’s campaign came to an end. She was defeated by Thai shuttler Busanan Ongbamrungphan 17-21, 21-16, 13-21.
There were some trademark Saina moments, like clever drops and lengthy returns to drive her opponent back, but the two-time world champion made too many unforced errors and was unable to maintain her top level throughout the match.
Read also – BWF World Championships: Prannoy to meet Sen in pre-quarters
