All England Open Badminton Championships Day 1 Roundup: Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy cruise into Round 2
An excellent day for India in the most prestigious Badminton tournament in the world as India’s pride Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy advanced to the next round with close-fought battles.
On the other hand, Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal opted out of the tournament at the last moment. Now, India’s only hope in the women’s singles is PV Sindhu who will play her first game on Wednesday.
Here’s a look at the Day 1 matches:
Men’s Singles
HS Prannoy vs Wang Tzu-wei
The game against the champion Taiwanese player was not an easy one for Prannoy which is a sign that this tournament is not going to be easy going forward.
HS Prannoy has advanced to the next round after his victory against Wang Tzu-wei
Prannoy defeated Tzu-wei 21-19, 22-20 in straight games to reach the next round. There were moments in the game when Prannoy was struggling but the 30-year old baddie came back in style every time. Now, his next battle will be against the current third-ranked player Anthony Sinisuka Ginting from Indonesia. The Indian star has to prepare himself to the best if he wants to reach the quarterfinals.
Lakshya Sen vs Chou Tien-chen
The rising star of India, Lakshya Sen showed why he is one of the best baddies in the world right now. Though he had a tough game against the Taiwan player Tien-Chen, the young gun from India held his nerves till the end to snatch a tremendous victory.
Sen won the battle in straight games 21-18 and 21-19 to reach the next round. He has been a runner-up in the tournament in the past which is an unbelievable memory for any youngster.
This time, his goal will be to grab the iconic trophy and become the third player to create history in England. The 21-year old will be up against the Danish badminton player Anders Antonsen in the next round.
Women’s Doubles
Srivedya Gurazada/Ishika Jaiswal vs Chloe Birch/Lauren Smith
The pair of Gurazada and Jaiswal suffered a terrible defeat in the first round of the All-England Open against the English pair of Birch and Smith. They lost 9-21, 18-21 in straight games to make an early exit.
They started on a bad note with only nine points in the first game but came back strongly to make it 18. At one time, they were going well to almost win the second game but destiny had some other plans. With Jaiswal and Gurazada out, Smith and Birch advanced to the next round of the tournament.
What’s on Day 2?
Day 2 is set to be a cracker of a tournament for India as there will be nine games in which Indians will participate including PV Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth’s first-round matches. Also, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy will look for a win in the second round.
In women’s doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand will play their first-round match and our favorite Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy are set to begin their campaign on a good note.