Unseeded HS Prannoy into quarter-finals at the All England Open

Unseeded HS Prannoy progressed into the quarter-finals surpassing former world no. 3 and 2014 world championship bronze medallist Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia with 21-10, 21-19 at the All England Open Championships in Birmingham on Thursday.  

Prannoy, who slipped to world no. 16 after skipping few tournaments due to his foot corns he experienced during the India Open, defeated Chou Tien Chen in the first round with the vague thoughts to progress. In the second round he was just cruising towards the match.   

In the first game, Prannoy gave away the first point to Tommy followed by scoring four straight points to lead with 4-1. The Indian maintained at least a two-point gap till 6-4 to his advantage. Prannoy continued to surge with his amazing backhand cross court hits and sometimes deceptive shots. By the half time, he was with a 11-6 lead.

After the breather, Tommy saved one point before Prannoy increased the gap by winning five consecutive points to mark the score as 16-7. The Indonesian player could gain three more points before Indian sealed the game.

After switching the sides, Tommy changed the gear. With his impressive rallies of powerful smashes, Tommy zoomed to the break with a lead of 11-8.

Tommy maintained the lead of 16-13 and soon was caught by Prannoy 16-16, after Indian scored three straight points. After exchanging the leads, the duo reached 19-19, but eventually it was Prannoy who won the match and saved the berth in the quarter-finals.  

Prannoy will face Huang Yuxiang of China, who surpassed Kidambi Srikanth in the pre-quarter match, in the next round.