Kidambi Srikanth stuns Chou Tien Chen, HS Prannoy loses in French Open opener

PARIS — India’s Kidambi Srikanth progressed to the men’s singles second round with a stunning win over Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen but HS Prannoy fell short to make an early exit from French Open Super 750 badminton tournament, here on Wednesday.

The world No 24 Srikanth, who is racing against time to qualify for the Paris Olympics, outwitted 14th-ranked Chen 21-15, 20-22, 21-8 in a 66-minute opening round clash for his third win over the Taiwanese shuttler in seven meetings.

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In the next round, the 2021 world championships silver medallist Srikanth will fight it out against China’s world No 17 Lu Guang Zu, who ended the campaign of India’s HS Prannoy with a fine 21-17, 21-17 win at the adjacent court at the Arena Porte de la Chapelle here.

Srikanth was by far the better player as he roared back from 5-7 behind, winning 14 off the next 17 points to earn the bragging rights.

However, Chen produced a rearguard in the second game and managed to keep his nose ahead in time to take the match to the decider after a gruelling battle of nerves.

After the change of sides, Srikanth was back in his element as from 7-5, the Indian pocketed nine straight points to leave Chen far behind. The Taiwanese managed three points before the Indian banged the door on his face with the remaining five points.

In the adjacent court, Prannoy seemed on the road to glory only to to falter in the end as Guang Zu stole the show.

Prannoy moved to a 5-2 lead early in the opening game and though Guang Zu clawed back with three points, the Indian quickly changed gears to reestablish a three-point advantage at the break.

The duo engaged in some fierce rallies and Prannoy kept things tight for most part. The Chinese, however, kept snapping at the Indian’s heels keeping himself within two points, waiting for an opportunity.

It eventually arrived when Prannoy’s backhand went to net as the Chinese clawed back at 16-16 before moving to a lead with Prannoy erring again.

Guang Zu then pocketed the opening game by unleashing a quick return on his rival’s backhand.

Prannoy made an erratic start to the second game, falling 0-3 behind early. It was back to the grind for the Indian as he slowly drew parity at 6-6 with a few winners like the down-the-line smash on Guang Zu’s forehand.

But he also missed the lines, going long and wide a few times as the Chinese again capitalised on his errors to grab a 11-7 advantage at interval.

A determined Prannoy once again levelled terms with four straight points, the last being a lethal net kill.

The rallies starting getting fierce as the duo produce some sensational saves displaying great reflexes, but Guang Zu was a tad sharper and alert as he soon lead 19-15 with Prannoy now struggling to get a grip on the fast-paced rallies.

The Indian did win three straight point to keep hopes alive, before the Chinese grabbed three match points with a smash on his forehand and sealed it with another precise return on forecourt.