Malaysia Open badminton: HS Prannoy, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty progress

Indian badminton player HS Prannoy continued his purple patch and moved into the second round of the Malaysia Open 2022 in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. India’s top men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty also progressed.

Competing at the Axiata Arena, world No. 21 HS Prannoy, who moved up two places in the latest badminton world rankings after reaching the Indonesia Open semis earlier this month, beat world No. 30 Liew Daren of Malaysia 21-14, 17-21, 21-18 in one hour and two minutes.

Though Liew Daren began the first game with a 2-0 lead, HS Prannoy snatched the initiative with six consecutive points. Liew Daren tried to put up a late fight but HS Prannoy protected his lead to go 1-0 up in the match.

Liew Daren, a 2018 world championships bronze medallist, found his footing in the second game and matched HS Prannoy's stride by stride. Level at 16-all, Liew Daren struck four straight points to put the game beyond Prannoy’s reach.

Both shuttlers were on guard in the decider. Despite HS Prannoy keeping his nose ahead for the most part, Liew Daren kept chipping in with crucial points. 

With the score at 18-17, HS Prannoy broke free, winning four of the next five points to pocket the match. HS Prannoy will face world No. 4 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the second round.

This was HS Prannoy’s seventh win over Liew Daren in 11 matches. 

Later in the day, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, competing for the first time since India’s historic Thomas Cup win in May, beat Malaysia’s Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee 21-18, 21-11 to move into the next round of the BWF Super 750 event.

The women’s duo of Ashwini Ponnappa-N Sikki Reddy and former worlds bronze medallist B Sai Praneeth, meanwhile, suffered early exits.

Ashwini Ponnappa-N Sikki Reddy lost to Japan’s Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida 21-15, 21-11 while world No. 19 B Sai Praneeth lost to world No. 6 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia 21-15, 19-21, 21-9.

Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal will be seen in action in the first round of women’s singles on Wednesday. Lakshya Sen and Kidambi Srikanth are not competing at the Kuala Lumpur meet.

Other Indian results on Day 1 of Malaysia Open 2022

Men’s singles: Sameer Verma lost to Jonatan Christie (IDN) 21-14, 13-21, 21-7

Mixed doubles: Venkat Gaurav Prasad-Juhi Dewangan lost to Kim WonHo-Jeong Na Eun (KOR) 21-15, 21-9

Women’s doubles: Haritha Manazhiyil Harinarayan-Ashna Roy lost to Jeong Na Eun- Kim Hye Jeong (KOR) 21-7, 21-12