Srikanth, Prannoy pull off upset wins in Malaysia

India’s top shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy pulled off stunning victories at the $420,000 Malaysia Masters with double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu also entering the quarter-finals in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. However, it was the end of the road for reigning Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen, who lost in the second round of the Super 500 event at the Axiata Arena.

Former world No.1 pulled off one of the biggest wins of recent times when he beat Thai eighth seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-19, 21-19 in 45 minutes despite falling way behind in the contest. Srikanth fell behind 2-9 at the start before fighting back to win the first game. He was again trailing 13-18 in the second before clawing his way back to achieve his first victory in four meetings against the silver medallist of the 2022 World Championships.

“I feel I should be consistent throughout tournaments, consistent for one whole week to win any event. That’s something I haven’t been able to do. Happy with the performance but just want to keep improving from here,” Srikanth, who last won an individual event in 2017, was quoted as saying by the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

This was also Srikanth’s first win over a top-10 player since beating Jonatan Christie at the Hylo Open in November 2022. He will next face Indonesian qualifier Christian Adinata in what will be the first meeting between the two.

After ousting sixth seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the opener, Prannoy came up with another brilliant victory when he beat reigning All England champion Li Shi Feng 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 in an hour and 10 minutes. This was the world No.9’s second victory in as many meetings against the Chinese. Prannoy will next take on Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto – who the Indian has never beaten in the two previous meetings — for a place in the semi-finals.

Sen, however, lost the third men’s singles second round contest involving an Indian when he went down 14-21, 19-21 in 48 minutes to Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long.

Former world champion Sindhu also progressed to the last eight with her 13th victory in as many meetings against Japan’s Aya Ohori. Sindhu won 21-16, 21-11 in 40 minutes.

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