Indian shuttlers HS Prannoy and Parupalli Kashyap cruised into the pre-quarterfinals with big wins on Wednesday at the Taipei Open. In the first round of the BWF World Tour Super 300 competition, world number nine Prannoy eliminated local shuttler Lin Yu-Hsien 21-11 21-10 in under 26 minutes. Prannoy, who is ranked third and won the Malaysia Masters Super 300 title a month ago, will next face Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia in the men's singles second round.
Kashyap, a former gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games, defeated Germany's Samuel Hsiao with ease, 21-15, 21-16. In the pre-quarterfinals, he will compete against Su Li Yang, a local favourite. Additionally, it was Kashyap's first victory in a Super 300 event main draw this season.
Tanya Hemanth triumphed over Agnes Korosi of Hungary in the women's singles Round of 32 by scores of 21-7, 21-17. In the mixed doubles competition, Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy also qualified for the second round after defeating fellow countrymen Bokka Navaneeth and Priya Konjengbam 21-14, 21-17.
However, S Sankar Muthusamy Subramanian was defeated by Japanese sixth seed Kanta Tsuneyama 13-21, 5-21. Meiraba Luwang Maisnam was defeated by fifth seed Ng Ka Long Angus in a hard-fought match as well. HS Prannoy will take on Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto in the round of 16 match on Thursday, June 21 from 6:30 AM IST onwards, whereas Parupalli Kashyap will square off against Taiwan’s Su Li Yang from 9:30 AM IST onwards.
