Tokyo [Japan], July 25 : India's star badminton players Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy have secured a place in the pre-quarterfinals of the men’s singles event at the Japan Open 2023 badminton tournament in Tokyo.
Srikanth and Prannoy will face each other in the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF Super 750 tournament on Wednesday, according to Olympics.com.
Former world No. 1 Srikanth won against world No. 8 Chou Tien-Chen in two straight games 21-13, 21-13 in 43 minutes for his second win over the Chinese Taipei shuttler in eight meetings.
Prannoy defeated world No. 7 and reigning All England champion Li Shi Feng of the Republic of China in 49 minutes. It was the Indian player's third straight win over the Chinese shuttler.
In the women’s singles, Aakarshi Kashyap, world No. 42, went down 21-17, 21-17 to badminton’s top-ranked Japanese shuttler Akane Yamaguchi in 34 minutes.
In the women’s singles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand staged a comeback to beat Japanese duo Sayaka Hobara and Yui Suizu Japan 11-21, 21-15, 21-14 in a little over an hour to advance to the pre-quarterfinals.
Rohan Kapoor and N Sikki Reddy, meanwhile, were ousted from the mixed singles after the pair were defeated 18-21, 21-9, 21-18 by Chinese Taipei’s Hong Wei and Lee Chia Hsin in 53 minutes.
Results at the Japan Open will count towards players’ qualifying rankings for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The qualification window for badminton started on May 1 this year.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, currently ranked 17, will take the court on Wednesday. The Indian badminton player will be up against world No. 18 Zhang Yiman of China in her opening match.
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