Quarter-finals day begun today at the 27th edition of the BWF Word Championships at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. There was a lot of focus on our Indian shuttlers as M R Arjun/Dhruv Kapila, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty and HS Prannoy were contesting the quarter-finals today.
First up on court 1 were M R Arjun and Dhruv Kapila. They were up against the highly experienced Indonesian veterans Mohammed Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan who have won 3 golds at the World Championships as a pair. It was going to be a tough outing for the Indian duo and it became quite evident. The Indonesians were dominating from the start as they needed just 29 minutes to dispatch their opponents in straight games with a score of 21-8 21-14. A good run for the Indian pair ends at with their first quarter-final appearance.
Next up on court 2 were the Commonwealth men’s doubles champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. They were up against defending world champions and number two seeds Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi of Japan. The match started off in good fashion for the Indians as they raced into a 14-9 lead. But the Japanese came back to draw level and even inch into the lead. But the Indians held on. At 19-19, an error into the net saw the Japanese pair have their first look at game point. But the Indians didn’t go away as they leveled again and were resilient in taking the lead from the Japanese and winning the game 24-22.
The second game saw Hoki and Kobayashi take a strong lead and maintain it this time. They won the second game 21-15. The third and deciding game saw a dominant performance from the Indians. Chirag Shetty produced quality stuff at the front of the court with his net play. The Indians held on as they did not allow the defending champions from Japan to close the gap. They sealed the third game 21-14. They erupted in joy as they had claimed their first bronze medal in the World Championships by making it to semis. This was their first quarter-final appearance in the tournament too. They will face the sixth seeded Malaysian pair of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik tomorrow.
The last match to feature Indian players today was next up on court 2 as HS Prannoy took on Zhao Jun Peng of China. The Chinese was unseeded too and was on a fine run having defeated both Kidambi Srikanth and Lee Zii Jia. Prannoy himself was on a great run too having defeated Kento Momota and compatriot Lakshya Sen.
The match started in a highly competitive manner with both players showing high level of badminton. But after the interval, Prannoy established a healthy lead to go 19-13 up, but slipped chasing a lofted return from Zhao and sparked a moment of tension but seemed to be good to continue. Zhao staged a superb comeback to level the game at 19-19. But Prannoy held on as he took the next 2 points to win the first game 21-19.
The second game saw Zhao Jun Peng go all out as he never gave Prannoy a chance at took the second game 21-6. There were signs of fatigue maybe on Prannoy’s side after that enthralling match yesterday with Lakshya Sen.
Onto the third and deciding game but now Prannoy looked better than before and both players were back playing with high quality. Zhao maintained his cool and went into the interval with a 3-point lead at 11-8. He then kept maintaining the lead and it was often swinging around a 3-4 point gap. But Prannoy showed hope as he played some great rallies to keep himself alive in the match. But eventually Zhao had match points at 20-17. Prannoy got one back to make it 20-18 but Zhao took the next point to win the match in splendid match that lasted 64 minutes.
A superb run at Tokyo comes to an end for HS Prannoy but he showed valiant effort throughout the week. Zhao Jun Peng marches on as he is the only unseeded player to remain in the men’s singles draw. He awaits the winner of the match between the defending champion and eighth seed Loh Kean Yew of Singapore and sixteenth seed Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand.
Rankireddy and Shetty are the last Indians standings. The semi-finals await.
Image credit: Badminton Photo by BWF
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