Malaysia Open: Prannoy enters quarterfinals, Trisa, Gayatri lose
Kuala Lumpur. India’s star badminton player HS Prannoy defeated Indonesia’s Chiko Ora Dwi Wardoyo to enter the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Open Super 750 tournament. World number eight player Prannoy fought for one hour and four minutes 21 . 9, 15. 21, 21. Won by 16. He will next face either Ang Ji Yong of Malaysia or Kodai Naraoka of Japan. Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games bronze medalists Trisa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand were defeated by Bulgaria’s Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva in the pre-quarterfinals. The world No. 16 Indian pair were defeated by the 14th-ranked Stoeva sisters by 21. 13, 15. 21, 21. Beaten by 17
This was Prannoy’s second encounter with Chico, whom he had lost at the Syed Modi International 2018. Prannoy got off to a great start and scored 7. Made a lead of 5. He had 11 at the break. There was an increase of 5. After winning the first game, Prannoy was outplayed by his opponent in the second game. Chico played aggressively, forcing Prannoy to make mistakes and won the second game. In the deciding game, Prannoy did not give any chance to Chico. On the basis of his excellent returns and crosscourt smashes, he scored 17. Made a lead of 12. Another shot down the backline fetched him six match points. Chico also saved two match points but the next went into the net.
Also read: Malaysia Open: Trisa, Gayathri lose in pre-quarterfinals
At the same time, the Stoeva sisters, who played Rio Olympics 2016 and Tokyo Olympics 2020, were heavy on Trisa and Gayatri from the beginning. He soon hit 6. 0 lead although at one point their lead was 12 . Only 9 were left but the Indian pair could not maintain the rhythm. The Indian pair came back in the second game and won it to take the match to the decider. In the third game, the Indian pair won 6. Had made a lead of 4 but the Bulgarian team made a comeback and scored 14. 14 done. After this, he did not give the Indian pair a chance to come back. Trisa and Gayatri will now play Margot Lambert and Anne Tran of France in the India Open Super 750 tournament next week.
