Japan Open 2023: Prannoy to face Srikanth in pre-quarters, Aakarshi bows out

TOKYO— Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy will face each other at the pre-quarterfinals of the men’s singles event at the Japan Open 2023 badminton tournament after winning their respective Round of 32 matches, here on Tuesday.

Former world No. 1 Srikanth, currently ranked 20th, defeated world No. 8 Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen 21-13, 21-13  in a round of 32 encounter, which lasted for 43 minutes. It was his second win over the Chinese Taipei shuttler in eight meetings.

Later, eighth seed HS Prannoy, 10th in the badminton rankings, defeated world No. 7 and reigning All England champion Li Shi Feng of China 21-17, 21-13 in 49 minutes. It was the Indian’s third straight win over the Chinese shuttler.

Now, Srikanth and Prannoy will face each other in the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF Super 750 tournament on Thursday.

In the women’s singles opening round, Aakarshi Kashyap, world No. 42, went down 17-21, 17-21 to top-ranked Japanese shuttler Akane Yamaguchi in 34 minutes.

In the women’s doubles, 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.

Meanwhile, Rohan Kapoor and N Sikki Reddy were ousted from the mixed doubles after the Indian pair were defeated 21-18, 9-21, 18-21 by Chinese Taipei’s Hong Wei and Lee Chia Hsin in 53 minutes.

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, currently ranked 17, will take the court on Wednesday. She will be up against world No. 18 Zhang Yiman of China in her opening match.

Notably, 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.