Australian Open badminton: HS Prannoy knocked out in quarter-finals as Indian challenge ends

India’s challenge at the Australian Open Super 500 badminton tournament ended on Friday after HS Prannoy Japan’s Kodai Naraoka 19-21, 13-21 in the quarter-finals. With this result, all the Indians have made quarter-final exits in the event taking place in Sydney.  The world No. 10 Prannoy was the latest to be eliminated on a day when his singles compatriot Sameer Verma, mixed doubles pair of Sikki Reddy and B Sumeeth Reddy along with Aakarshi Kashyap in women’s singles also drew blank.

Prannoy made a rally from being 10-16 down to level the proceedings at 18-all before taking a one-point lead but Naraoka held his nerves to seal the first game.

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Naraoka was far superior in the second game as he suddenly upped the ante at 5-5 without giving Prannoy any scope of a comeback to seal the match in little more than an hour.

Fresh from his upset victory over former world No. 1 Loh Kean Yew, Verma was no match for his world No. 17 opponent Chinese Taipei opponent Lin Chun-Yi who cruised to a 21-12, 21-13 win in 38 minutes.

In the mixed doubles, eighth seeded husband-wife duo of Summeth and Sikki also faced a tough opposition in top seeded pair of Jian Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin, who took just about half an hour’s time to secure an easy 21-12 21-14 victory.

Eighth seed Aakarshi went down to Chinese Taipei’s Yu Po Pai 21-17 21-12 in a 42-minute women’s singles contest.

With PTI inputs