Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 27
Life on the road is tough for many but it is brutal for professional sportspersons. Both HS Prannoy and B Sai Praneeth showed varying degrees of struggle on court as they advanced to the second round of the India Open badminton tournament here today.
For PV Sindhu, however, it was an easy day in office as she beat compatriot Mugdha Agrey 21-8 21-13.
Prannoy had to sit out of the Senior National Championships as he had to fly to the United States to consult doctors after he was diagnosed with the Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), a digestive disorder.
Still not fully fit, Prannoy overcame stiff resistance from Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen, who was seeded eighth. Prannoy beat the current world
No. 17 14-21 21-18 21-14 to advance to the Round of 16.
Wednesday’s was his only second foray in an international tournament after the first round loss (19-21 19-21) against compatriot Sai Praneeth at the prestigious All-England Championships last month. The 68 minutes that the 27-year-old spent was another vital step for the shuttler who is looking to get going again.
“It was important to test myself and probably I started to feel confident in the second and third set,” he said after the tough encounter.
“There were a lot of rusty moments and I wasn’t trusting myself on strokes but it will get better for me from each and every round and tournament. But I am pretty happy how I played today,” he added.
Prannoy said he will take a few more months to get fully fit. “It is a big process for me. I have been consulting with the doctors in the US. I am really glad that I am playing (again) and probably 80 percent of the things have fallen in place. There are areas I have to focus on like the diet plan that has been given to me. I should be much better in the next 4-5 months,” he said.
Sai Praneeth, on the other hand, is struggling with jet lag. Praneeth, who had participated at the All England and the Swiss Open, where he finished runner–up to China’s Shi Yuqi, had to dig deep against the 19-year-old Kartikey Gulshan Kumar to win 22-24 21-13 21-8.
“I wasn’t getting proper sleep after I returned from Europe. I was waking up in the middle of night but slowly I am getting back to normalcy,” he said.
Under pressure after conceding the first game, Praneeth had to rally back in the second and the third games to save the blushes. “I was under pressure as in the first set I committed many mistakes. But in the second game I thought to make some rally and get back into the rhythm and once I got the lead and then it I thought I can control the game. All I had to was to prolong the rally and take the point whenever I can,” he said.
Kidambi Srikanth too had a tough outing against Hong Kong’s Wong Wing Ki Vincent, winning 21-16 18-21 21-19 to advance to the Round of 16.
Subhankar upsets 4th seed
The biggest upset of the day was caused by India’s Subhankar Dey, who beat fourth seed and world No. 9 Tommy Sugiarto 14-21 22-20 21-11. World No. 15 Sameer Verma saw off Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke to win 21-18 21-12.
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