The world number 19 defeated Chico 21-16, 15-21, and 21-9 in one hour and forty minutes. Eight Indians appeared to be in good health.
Indian shuttler HS Prannoy defeated Indonesian Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo in a thrilling match on Thursday to advance to the men’s singles quarterfinals of the Malaysia Open Super 750 tournament. The world number 19 defeated Chico 21-16, 15-21, and 21-9 in one hour and forty minutes. Eight Indians appeared to be in good health. The 30-year-old from Kerala will now face either Ng Tze Yong of Malaysia or Kodai Naraoka of Japan.
In the women’s doubles pre-quarterfinals, bronze medalists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand put in a lot of effort, but Bulgaria’s Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva defeated them 13-21, 21-15, 17-21.
Prannoy had previously lost to Chico at the previous Syed Modi International. During this encounter, Prannoy saw Chico for the second time. By playing with more control, Prannoy, in the form of his life, got off to a good start. He led 7-5 before launching his attack, which paid off and gave him an 11-5 halftime lead.
Despite Chico’s struggles with the drifting conditions, Prannoy prevailed in the first game. Chico switched ends after a net argument with his opponent and gained better control to take a 6-2 lead. At the break, it appeared as though the Indonesian team was attacking more, and they quickly increased their lead to 11-5.
Both players tried to push each other during the rallies, but Prannoy made finishing mistakes, and Chico won 17-11 with a reverse slice. The Indonesian player quickly returned to the game after scoring five game points. He was overjoyed when Prannoy won the decider with precise line returns to move to 5-2. He was able to keep his opponent moving and make mistakes with his angled returns, giving him a nice five-point lead at the break.
Prannoy’s shot selection was spot-on, and he landed his straight and cross-court smashes away from his diving opponent to score points. Chico shot well but was inconsistent during rallies as Prannoy established his five-point lead at 17-12. With a second shot at the backline and a razor-sharp straight jump smash, Prannoy scored six match points.
Prannoy was overjoyed when the Indonesian made two saves before scoring. The 16th-ranked Treesa and Gayatri lost to the No. The one-hour-and-a-half-minute competition was won by a global team of 14 Stoeva sisters.
The Stoeva sisters, who competed in the Olympics in 2016 and 2020, were unquestionably the better players in the opening game, despite a brief Indian comeback that reduced the score to 9-12 at one point. After quickly extending their lead to 6-0, they held firm.
In the second match, which ended in a close game, Treesa and Gayatri prevented their opponent from getting any closer to them. To advance to the decider, they broke off at 14-14. Despite having a 6-4 and 14-13 advantage over the Indian team, the Bulgarian team prevailed in the third game 14-14. Treesa and Gayatri will compete against two French women, Margot Lambert and Anne Tran, at the India Open Super 750 next week.