Japan Open 2023 Pre-Quarterfinals Highlights: Satwik-Chirag reach quarters, HS Prannoy beats Srikanth to advance

Hello and welcome to the Khel Now's live blog for the Japan Open 2023 Pre-Quarterfinals! Stay tuned for live updates as players fight for a place in Quarter-finals.

India's Schedule for Today

Men’s Singles Round of 16

HS Prannoy vs Kidambi Srikanth

Lakshya Sen vs Kanta Tsuneyama

Men’s Doubles Round of 16

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty vs Jeppe Bay/Lasse Molhede

Women’s Doubles Round of 16

Treesa Jolly/Gayatri Gopichand vs Nami Matsuyama/Chiharu Shida

Japan Open 2023 Day 2 Report

Commonwealth Games 2022 champion Lakshya Sen alongside Asian champions and new WR-2 pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty progressed to RO16 of Japan Open 2023. The former got the better off compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat in three games while the latter advanced with a win over Indonesian duo Daniel Marthin and Leo Carnando.

In the Sen vs Rajawat, all-India match, Priyanshu Rajawat played his heart out and was on a cusp of a victory but with experience, Lakshya Sen came back from behind to save two match points in the decider. Rajawat was always ahead in the decider and had a four-point lead at 18-14, but his inexperience allowed Lakshya to latch onto few opportunities.

Earlier, Priyanshu gave a good fight to WR-2 Ginting in the Indonesia Open and WR-4 Kodai Naraoka in Korea Open last week. With time and experience, the 21-year-old will latch onto victories and progress ahead.

In the other men’s singles match, Mithun Manjunath lost probably one of the easiest matches he would have ever had in a BWF 750 tournament. After sealing the opening game, Mithun was 18-11 ahead, but Weng Hong Yang scored seven out of the next eight points to reduce the deficit and also take the match to the decider.

In the decider too, Manjunath had a small three-point lead at the break (11-8) but once again handed over the lead to the opponent and subsequently the match as well.

Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu lost in the opening round to Zhang Yi Man in straight games (12-21, 13-21). Sindhu was nowhere near her best and struggled to dictate pace throughout the match. This was Sindhu’s second straight first round exit after the Korea Open last week.

Up next, HS Prannoy is set to clash against countrymate Kidambi Srikanth for a place in the quarter-finals. Lakshya Sen will be up against Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama who beat second seed Antony Sinisika Ginting in straight games in the opening round.

Later in the day, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila gave a walkover with the former suffering from a back injury. This is the pair’s second opening round walkover post the Korea Open last week.