India’s Prannoy H. S. in motion towards Taipei’s Wang Tzu-wei, not pictured, throughout day one of many YONEX All England Open Badminton Championships at the Utilita Arena Birmingham, England on March 14, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP
Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy produced superlative performances to progress to the second spherical of the All England Championships with hard-fought straight-game wins within the males’s singles competitors right here on March 14.
In a excessive depth match, Sen moved with pace and mounted a pinpoint assault on the traces to outwit fifth seeded Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 21-18 21-19 in 48 minutes.
The 21-year-old from Almora, who had reached the ultimate within the final version, thus claimed his first win over the world quantity 5 after shedding twice in three conferences.
Earlier, World No. 9 Prannoy survived some anxious moments earlier than prevailing 21-19 22-20 towards Tzu Wei Wang in his 49-minute opening spherical conflict to take his general tally to 5-3 over the Taiwanese.
Sen, who slipped to world quantity 19, will sq. off towards both Anders Antonsen or Rasmus Gemke within the second spherical, whereas Prannoy will meet third seeded Indonesian Anthony Sinisuka Ginting subsequent.
The match between Chou and Sen expectedly turned out to be excessive tempo contest.
Chou took a 3-1 lead however Sen clawed again to steer 7-6 after taking part in some brief rallies. The Indian led 11-8 at the mid-game interval.
The fast-paced rallies continued as Sen saved a agency grip to maneuver to 15-9 however Chou received eight of the following 10 factors to degree at 17-17, solely to provide all of it away with two errors.
A superb judgement at the baseline took Sen to 19-17. A fortunate web chord helped Chou make it 18-19 however he made one other error to present two sport factors to Sen, who transformed it at the primary alternative.
After being locked 5-5 within the second sport, Sen smashed out twice earlier than producing a forehand flick to maintain it 7-8 after a protracted rally.
Sen seemed to step up the assault, whereas Chou tried to range the tempo and delay the rallies. However, Sen managed to eke out a one-point benefit at the break.
Looking for perfection, Chou erred as Sen moved to 15-12. Sen subsequent wriggled out of a difficult state of affairs with an immaculate shot and adopted it with a strong smash to steer 16-13.
The Indian inched nearer to win with one other on-the-line return after which produced a flurry of smash to maneuver to 19-17.
Chou made it 18-19 earlier than gifting two match level possibilities to Sen with a service error. The Taiwanese saved one with a smash earlier than Sen unleashed a booming return to seal the competition.
Earlier, Prannoy seemed in good contact as he reeled off 5 factors on the trot to zoom to a snug 11-4 lead. However, the Indian was responsible of lacking the traces twice and likewise discovered the web, permitting Wang to chop down the deficit to a few factors at 11-14.
Prannoy managed to tug away to 18-12 with 4 straight factors earlier than Wang broke the run of factors with an aggressive return after a fast-paced rally.
Wang then punished Prannoy for his weak returns and moved to 16-19 with a misleading web return. A backhand going extensive after which one other one going lengthy from Prannoy introduced Wang to 19-19.
Prannoy then unleashed a cross court docket smash to maneuver to sport level after which despatched down one other straight smash to shut the sport.
The second sport was a tightly fought battle from the phrase go as Wang opened up a 7-2 lead. Prannoy levelled the scores, solely to overlook the traces at his opponent’s forehand nook twice.
He finally introduced down a booming smash to eke out a one level lead at the break. The two engaged in a slugfest subsequent, shifting neck and neck until 16-16.
Two venomous returns gave Prannoy a 19-17 lead however he as soon as once more squandered it as Wang made it 19-19. The Taiwanese went lengthy subsequent handy over a match level to the Indian, who wasted it.
However, a decided Prannoy ensured there was no last-minute hiccups as he rejoiced as soon as Wang went to web.
