Praneeth trumps mighty Lee; Saina, Srikanth advance at the All England Championship
SAI PRANEETH UPSET LEE CHONG WEI of Malaysia in straight games while Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth also won their respective matches as Indian shuttlers enjoyed a good outing in the first round of the All England Open badminton tournament at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham, England.
Praneeth, who qualifed for this tournament after fellow Indian Parupalli Kashyap withdrew with an injured knee, eked out a 24-22, 22-20 win over the second seeded Malaysian.
Lee, who missed last year's event due to a doping suspension, suffered his biggest loss since making his comeback, which has seen him climb up the rankings from 182nd to second.
Praneeth, placed 37th in the world rankings, endured a tough start to the match late on Wednesday, and was trailing the first game 7-15 at one stage. But the plucky Indian won eight consecutive points to pull level. It was a see-saw battle from there on before Lee reached game point.
Praneeth, however, pulled level again before winning back to back points to seal the first game.
Praneeth fell behind in the second game as well, with Lee taking a 17-12 lead. But Praneeth tied him at 19-19 before winning three consecutive points towards the end to emerge victorious.
Srikanth, meanwhile, had a relatively easy outing, defeating Rajiv Ouseph of England 21-17, 21-12 in the first round.
A very good win today against Rajeev of England. #allengland #superseries #1stround #goodstart #belief #yonex pic.twitter.com/aExm9lwfGd
— Sri (@srikidambi) March 9, 2016
He is expected to face much tougher competition in the second round when he meets fourth seed Kento Momota of Japan, who is one of the favourites for the title this year.
Youngster Sameer Verma triumphed over Hu Yun of Hong Kong in straight games 21-10, 21-14. He will next play eighth seed Tian Houwei of China. HS Prannoy and Ajay Jayaram were ousted in the first round. Prannoy went down against Chinese Xue Song 20-22, 15-21.
Definitely not my day. Leading 18-11 in the first set and losing was a tough one to digest. Will come back better pic.twitter.com/Ugf4b94tL4
— PRANNOY HS (@PRANNOYHSPRI) March 9, 2016
Meanwhile Ajay was defeated by Ng Ka Long Angus 21-18, 19-21, 21-19.
Heartbreaking end 2 an otherwise good match.Frustrating to lose from a commanding position.Hope to get back stronger pic.twitter.com/yyeVldfgaT
— Ajay Jayaram (@ajay_289) March 9, 2016
In the women's section, Saina Nehwal beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-17, 21-12. Saina faced very little porblem from the Canadian, opening up a 15-9 lead in the opening game. Although Li won four consecutive games to narrow gap to 15-18, the Hyderabad girl managed to hold her own.
Li had a superb start to the second game, taking a 3-0 lead. But Saina staged a fine recovery before winning five consecutive points to wrap up the issue.
However, P.V. Sindhu crashed out in the first round, going down 21-18, 17-21, 12-21 to Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand after a tough fight.
The women's and men's doubles shuttlers Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa and Manu Attri/Buss Sumeeth Reddy also ended their campaign. Jwala/Ashwini were defeated by Samantha Barning/Iris Tableing of Netherlands 26-24, 21-17.
Really really disappointed at the way i played...😒😒😒😒 sorry to disappoint everyone...I promise will work harder for our next 😞😞
— Gutta Jwala (@Guttajwala) March 9, 2016
Attri/Reddy went down against Malaysian duo of Kien Keat Koo/Boon Heong Tan 16-21, 21-13, 21-15.
