HS Prannoy progressed to the quarter-finals of the Taipei Open 2023 men's singles event on Thursday after getting the better of Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia in straight games with a score of 21-9, 21-17.
However, Parupalli Kashyap's campaign came to an end with a loss in the round of 16 to Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei.
In the pre-quarterfinals of the BWF Super 300 tournament, Prannoy, currently ranked ninth in the world, gained a commanding lead of 15-5 in the opening game. The Indian shuttler maintained kept dominating proceedings and clinched the first game by a margin of more than 10 points.
However, in the second game, Prannoy was second fiddle to Sugiarto and at one stage the latter was 10-3. But the Indian quickly regained his composure and equalized the scores.
With the match tied at 15-all, Prannoy shifted gears to eventually triumph over his Chinese Taipei counterpart in a total playing time of 36 minutes.
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Next, the 30-year-old HS Prannoy is set to face Hong Kong's Ng Ka Long Angus in the quarter-finals.
In contrast, Parupalli Kashyap, the Commonwealth Games 2014 champion, experienced disappointment as he turned out to be second best to Su Li Yang of Chinese Taipei. There was no looking back for Li Yang once he raced ahead 14-8 in the first game. He kept his momentum in the second game as well and beat the Indian 21-16, 21-17 in a contest that lasted 42 minutes.
India's challenge in the women's singles event was also dashed, as Tanya Hemanth, ranked 57th in the world, suffered a defeat in the pre-quarterfinals to world No. 4 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics silver medalist, Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei with a score of 21-11, 21-6.
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Indian mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and N Sikki Reddy also faced a setback in the second round. They were defeated by Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Lin Xiao Min of Chinese Taipei, with a score of 21-13, 21-18.
Prannoy remains the only Indian contender in the ongoing Taipei Open 2023 and if he keeps up his rich vein of form he will emerge as a strong contender for the title.