HS Prannoy defeated former world No 2 Shi Yu Qi in a thrilling contest while defending champion PV Sindhu came through in straight games on Day 2 of the Swiss Open Super 300 in Basel.
There was, however, another early exit for Lakshya Sen as he continues to struggle for consistency on the BWF World Tour this year. He bowed out with a straight-games defeat (21-18, 21-11) to Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong.
There were also wins for second seeds Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Chirag Shetty, former champion Srikanth Kidambi and national champion Mithun Manjunath.
Prannoy’s match against Shi, the All England finalist last week, lived up to its billing on Wednesday as a high quality clash against two top 10 players. World No 9 Prannoy prevailed 21-17, 19-21, 21-17 against Shi, who returned to the top 10 on the back of his All England run.
Prannoy will next face French rising star Christo Popov.
#SwissOpenSuper300
— The Field (@thefield_in) March 22, 2023
India No 1 HS Prannoy defeats last week's All England Open finalist Shi Yu Qi in a thrilling three-game battle to enter round of 16. https://t.co/VpOxJdqjJY pic.twitter.com/VkyVoNMKKM
Srikanth faced a tricky opening test against explosive Chinese southpaw Weng Hong Yang but came through in three games 21-16, 15-21, 21-18. The Indian took a hard-fought opening game before Weng put together a run of 11 straight points at the end of game 2 and start of game 3 combined. Srikanth however found his footing again to close the match out in a nervy finish.
Srikanth would have faced Sen in the next round but the CWG 2022 gold medallist continued to struggle for results. It will now be Srikanth vs Lee Cheuk Yiu.
Second seeds Satwik-Chirag didn’t waste much time in seeing off their opening round challenge while Mithun also came through a relatively straightforward opening round test.
#SwissOpenSuper300 update 🚨
— The Field (@thefield_in) March 22, 2023
[2] Satwik-Chirag start with a straight-games win, while former champ Srikanth needs three games. Mithun through as well.
Lakshya Sen, however, suffered another early exit, losing in straight games against HKG's Lee.https://t.co/4VTYJx6CDI pic.twitter.com/BFm1Tp7anf
Sindhu, who won the title here last year and reached the final year before, got off to a steady start, defeating Swiss national Jenjira Stadelmann in straight games, winning 21-9, 21-16. The opening game was a breeze before the 23-year-old Swiss started pulling off some aggressive rallies early in the second game to put Sindhu under pressure. But the Indian was steady enough to close it out without any hassle. She faces Indoenesia’s Putri Kusuma Wardani next.
This was, in fact, Sindhu’s first win of the BWF World Tour season after three first-round exits earlier.
#SwissOpenSuper300
— The Field (@thefield_in) March 22, 2023
PV Sindhu moves into the second round in Basel with a straight-games win against Swiss shuttler Jenjira Stadelmann. The 2022 champion will face Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia next.https://t.co/VpOxJdqjJY pic.twitter.com/o7Yni0WN9P
There were defeats for Malvika Bansod, Kiran George, Aakarshi Kashyap, Sikki Reddy-Rohan Kapoor, Sikki Reddy-Arathi Sara Sunil on the day as well.
Here’s a look at all the Indian results from day two of action:
YONEX Swiss Open 2023
— BWFScore (@BWFScore) March 22, 2023
WS - R32
21 21 🇮🇳PUSARLA V. Sindhu🥇
9 16 🇨🇭Jenjira STADELMANN
🕚 in 32 minutes
YONEX Swiss Open 2023
— BWFScore (@BWFScore) March 22, 2023
MS - R32
21 19 21 🇮🇳PRANNOY H. S.🏅
17 21 17 🇨🇳SHI Yu Qi
🕚 in 64 minutes
YONEX Swiss Open 2023
— BWFScore (@BWFScore) March 22, 2023
MS - R32
21 21 🇫🇷Christo POPOV🥇
14 15 🇮🇳Kiran GEORGE
🕚 in 42 minutes
YONEX Swiss Open 2023
— BWFScore (@BWFScore) March 22, 2023
XD - R32
🇸🇬HEE Yong Kai Terry🏅
20 21 21 🇸🇬TAN Wei Han Jessica🏅
🇮🇳Rohan KAPOOR
22 19 15 🇮🇳REDDY Sikki
🕚 in 60 minutes
YONEX Swiss Open 2023
— BWFScore (@BWFScore) March 22, 2023
WS - R32
21 21 🇰🇷KIM Gaeun🏅
14 15 🇮🇳Malvika BANSOD
🕚 in 34 minutes
YONEX Swiss Open 2023
— BWFScore (@BWFScore) March 22, 2023
MS - R32
21 15 21 🇮🇳KIDAMBI Srikanth🥇
16 21 18 🇨🇳WENG Hong Yang
🕚 in 70 minutes
YONEX Swiss Open 2023
— BWFScore (@BWFScore) March 22, 2023
MS - R32
21 21 🇭🇰LEE Cheuk Yiu🏅
18 11 🇮🇳Lakshya SEN
🕚 in 34 minutes
YONEX Swiss Open 2023
— BWFScore (@BWFScore) March 22, 2023
MD - R32
🇮🇳Satwiksairaj RANKIREDDY🏅
21 21 🇮🇳Chirag SHETTY🏅
🇲🇾BOON Xin Yuan
15 18 🇲🇾WONG Tien Ci
🕚 in 43 minutes
YONEX Swiss Open 2023
— BWFScore (@BWFScore) March 22, 2023
MS - R32
21 21 🇮🇳Mithun MANJUNATH🥇
8 17 🇳🇱Joran KWEEKEL
🕚 in 35 minutes
YONEX Swiss Open 2023
— BWFScore (@BWFScore) March 22, 2023
WD - R32
🇯🇵Sayaka HOBARA🏅
21 21 🇯🇵Yui SUIZU🏅
🇮🇳REDDY Sikki
12 14 🇮🇳Arathi Sara SUNIL
🕚 in 31 minutes
YONEX Swiss Open 2023
— BWFScore (@BWFScore) March 22, 2023
WS - R32
21 21 🇩🇪Yvonne LI🏅
15 17 🇮🇳AAKARSHI KASHYAP
🕚 in 40 minutes