Malaysia Open 2022 Indian shuttlers Round-Up: PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy falter in quarters as Indian challenge ends

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PV Sindhu lost to Tai Tzu-Ying 21-13, 15-21, 13-21

The Malaysia Open Super 750‘s fourth day saw the end of the Indian challenge from all categories. PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy had to face off superior shuttlers in terms of world rankings in the quarter-finals. While the former bowed out after losing to World No. 2 in three games, HS Prannoy was beaten by the seventh seed Indonesian Jonatan Christie in straight sets.

The other Indian shuttlers meanwhile, failed to progress into the fag end of the competition with most of them being knocked out in the first round itself. Others who did progress to second or third rounds couldn’t convert their promising starts to a successful campaign. 

Let us take a look at all Indian challenges at the Malaysian Open below – 

PV Sindhu, HS Prannoy flounder in quarters

Former world champion PV Sindhu lost to her arch-nemesis Tai Tzu-Ying of Chinese Taipei in three games. This was Sindhu’s sixth straight defeat against the World No. 2 shuttler. The Indian made an impressive start as she got the advantage of drift on the court and forced errors from Tai Tzu-Ying, taking the game 21-13.

The World No. 2 bounced back after the change of ends and built a massive 14-4 lead in the second game. However, the Chinese Taipei shuttler was taken by surprise when Sindhu closed down the deficit to just two points at 15-17. Despite staging such an impressive comeback, Sindhu lost five straight points and the second game 15-21.

The Indian ace kept fighting till the first half of the deciding game but it was the Olympic silver medalist who cruised past Sindhu in the end. Tai won the game 13-21, 21-15, 21-13, winning her sixth straight match against Sindhu, and 15th in total.

HS Prannoy went down against Jonatan Christie in straight sets

HS Prannoy went down against Jonatan Christie in straight sets

Meanwhile, HS Prannoy suffered a heartbreaking exit in the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Super 750 tournament on Friday, after losing to Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie in straight games. With Prannoy’s loss, India’s challenge at Malaysia Open 2022 ended as PV Sindhu also crashed out in the quarterfinal stage earlier in the day. 

In the previous round, Prannoy had pulled off a huge upset by beating World No. 4 Chinese Taipei player Chou Tien-Chen in straight games, 21-15, 21-17 to enter the quarterfinals. However, there was to be no repeat of those heroics, as Christie dominated the one-sided contest. 

Playing on court 2, Prannoy lost the match 21-18, 21-16. Earlier, the ace shuttler had a dream run in the Indonesia Open Super 1000 badminton tournament, wherein he reached the semifinal stage, before crashing out at the hands of China’s Zhao Jun Peng. 

Parupalli Kashyap, Satwik-Chirag ousted in the second round

The Indian-US women’s doubles pair of Srivedya Gurazada and Ishika Jaiswal lost to Febby Gani and Ribika Sugiarto of Indonesia in what was India’s first exit in Round 2 of the Malaysian Open. This defeat also ended the doubles contention of the Indian team across all the disciplines.

On the other hand, despite starting the match well, Purupalli Kashyap failed to keep the momentum and made an exit from the Malaysia Open in the pre-quarters. Kashyap took an early lead against Vitidsarn but the Thail shuttler made a strong comeback. Although the first game was neck-to-neck with long rallies and some great cross-court smashes, it was Vitidsarn who prevailed. The Thai shuttler won 21-19.

Kashyap once again started well in the 2nd game, opening up a two-point lead. However, it went all downhill for Kashyap from then on. Vitidsarn began opening up the lead and halfway through, he led 10-7.

The second half of the second game was dominated by Vitidsarn while Kashyap’s unforced errors mounted. With the Thai shuttler opening up a 5-point lead, Kashyap could not make a comeback. Vitidsarn won 21-10 to seal a last-eight spot at the Malaysian Open.

Meanwhile, after a power-packed opening round clash where the star Indian badminton men’s doubles duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty saw off the Malaysian pair of Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee, 21-18, 21-11, the seventh-seeded Indian pair decided to give a walkover in the second round of the Malaysia Open 2022.

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy captured in action

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy captured in action

The World No. 8 pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty were slated to take on the Malaysian duo of Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin for a place in the quarterfinals of the Super 750 tournament. However, in the very eleventh hour, Satwik-Chirag gave a walkover to the lower-ranked Malaysian pair and exited the tournament, owing to Satwik’s injury issues.

Satwik-Chirag had met the duo of Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin at the Thomas Cup last where the Indian pair recorded a fantastic straight games victory against them, 21-19, 21-15, as well. Overall, Satwik-Chirag leads 6-1 in the head-to-head meetings between the two.

The Indian-US women’s doubles pair of Srivedya Gurazada and Ishika Jaiswal lost to Febby Gani and Ribika Sugiarto of Indonesia in India’s first exit in Round 2 of the Malaysian Open. This defeat also ended the doubles contention of the Indian team across all the disciplines.

Other Indian exits in the First round 

2019 World Championships bronze medalist Sai Praneeth was up against sixth seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia in the men’s singles Round 1 clash. The former, despite losing the first game 21-15, came back stronger to clinch the second game 19-21. However, the Indian ace ran out of steam in the decider as he one-sidedly lost the third game 21-9.

Another tough men’s singles encounter saw Indian shuttler Sameer Verma taking on seventh seed Indonesian Jonatan Christie in the Round 1 clash of the competition. The match was more or less the carbon copy of Sai Praneeth. Sameer bowed out in three games against Christie 21-14, 13-21, 21-7.

Saina Nehwal was ousted in the first round losing 11-21, 17-21 against Iris Wang

Saina Nehwal was ousted in the first round losing 11-21, 17-21 against Iris Wang

In another women’s singles game, Saina Nehwal bowed out of the competition after losing her opener on Wednesday. London Olympics bronze medallist Saina went down fighting against American Iris Wang, ranked 33rd in the world, 11-21, 17-21 in 37 minutes.

Indian young guns Ashwini Bhatt and Shikha Gautam lost in a pretty one-sided fashion against the two-time former World Champions Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara of Japan in straight games in Round 1 of the competition.

The Indian pair was completely dominated by their opponents in both games. The Japanese pair restrained the young guns and didn’t allow them to inch closer as they triumphed convincingly with 21-11, 21-14 being the scoreline.

Meanwhile, India’s premier women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy found it difficult to stand their ground against the seventh seeds Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan. The Japanese duo easily dominated the Indian pair. The World No. 5 pair hardly broke a sweat to beat the duo 21-15, 21-11 in Round 1 of the tournament.

On the other hand, the debutant pair Manazhiyil Harinarayanan and Ashna Roy lost in a one-sided encounter against the Koreans Jeong Na Eun and Kim Hye Jeong 7-21, 12-21 to suffer another Round 1 exit for the Indian women’s doubles pair in the competition.

The mixed doubles pair of Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa lost to Robin Tabeling and Selena Piek of the Netherlands in Round 1 of the competition. The Indians came back with a close win at 21-19 after losing the first 15-21. However, the Dutch pair capitalised on building the lead right from the beginning in the deciding game and won the match 15-21, 21-19, and 17-21.

Another Indian mixed doubles pair, Venkat Prasad and Juhi Dewangan relinquished against Kim Won Ho and Jeong Na Hun of South Korea in two easy games 15-21, 9-21 to bow out of the competition in Round 1.

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