Indonesia Open 2023: Srikanth, Prannoy move into quarters; PV Sindhu bows out

Young Priyanshu Rajawat also went down against WR-2 Anthony Ginting of Indonesia.

India's top seeds in men's singles and men's doubles, HS Prannoy and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty progressed to the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Open 2023. Former WR 1, Srikanth, continued his defeating compatriot Lakshya Sen in straight games and in the process also bettering his head-to-head record (3-0) at the international level.

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and Orleans Masters winner Priyanshu Rajawat went down in R16 after putting in valiant efforts against Tai Tzu Ying and men's singles second seed Antony Sinisuka Ginting respectively.

Kidambi Srikanth started India's proceedings by defeating Lakshya Sen 21-17, 22-20. The latter had a fair bit of chances but couldn't capitalise on them. Kidambi was cruising by six points (19-13) in the second game but held up the match allowing Lakshya to pull things back. Sen responded with six consecutive points to bring the game to a 20-all.

Srikanth, who has the knack of losing out games after starting on a bright note, won two straight points from there to win the match and keep his unbeaten run intact against the Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medallist.

Elsewhere, HS Prannoy had an easy outing beating Angus Ka Long in straight games (21-18, 21-16). The Indian top seed is set to take on Japan's Kodai Naraoka in the quarter-finals. Naraoka has a 3-0 head-to-head advantage against Prannoy and the Indian will look to break the unbeaten run tomorrow. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty too did not face any hiccups winning an easy encounter against the Chinese He Ji Ting/Zhou Hao Dong (21-17, 21-15).

Later in the day, Priyanshu Rajawat, playing in his first BWF 1000 tournament, put up a spirited effort taking the match to three games against Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Antony Ginting. The Indonesian was up 5-11 in the first game but Priyanshu made a tremendous effort to turn the game in his favour (15-14) and eventually won it 22-20.

Ginting was more focused in the final two games and started to become aggressive. Rajawat had his chances and a few of the errors could have been corrected but nevertheless, this was the 21-year-old's first major tournament and there is much more to learn going forward.

India's performance on day 3 of Indonesia Open 2023

MS: Kidambi Srikanth beats Lakshya Sen (21-17, 22-20)

MS: HS Prannoy beats NG Angus Ka Long (21-18, 21-16)

MS: Priyanshu Rajawat lost to Antony Sinisuka Ginting (22-20, 15-21, 15-21)

WS: PV Sindhu lost to Tai Tzu Ying (18-21, 16-21)

MD: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty defeats He Ji Ting/Zhou Hao Dong (21-17, 21-15)