Taipei Open Badminton: Prannoy Reaches Quarterfinals, Kashyap, Rohan Kapoor-Sikki Reddy Ousted

Taipei Open Badminton: India's mixed results at the Taipei Open 2023 continued with top singles player H.S Prannoy advancing to the quarterfinals while former Commonwealth Games gold medallist Parupalli Kashyap and the mixed doubles pair of Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy losing in the second round on Thursday.

Prannoy defeated Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia 21-9, 21-17 in 36 minutes while Kashyap went down to Li Yang Su of Chinese Taipei 21-16, 21-17 in a second-round clash at Court 1 in Tian-Mu Arena. In the mixed doubles, Rohan Kapoor and Sikki Reddy lost to the local pair of Hsiang Chien Chiu and Xiao Min Lin 21=13, 21-18 in just 29 minutes.

Playing against Sugiarto on Court 2, Prannoy, who had defeated Chinese Taipei's Yu Hsien Lin 21-11, 21-10 in the first round, opened up a lead by winning seven-point from 2-1. He extended it to 11-2 soon. From 13-3, he maintained his advantage and went on to win the match 21-9 in the BWF World Tour Super 300 event which has a total prize fund of $210,000.

Sugiarto came out fighting in the second game and took a 5-1 lead. He extended the lead to 8-2 before Kashyap came fighting back to reduce it to 10-7. He continued to claw his way back into the game and eventually caught up with Sugiarto at 15-all. The Indian World No 9 won four points from 17-71 to win the second game 21-17 and advance to the quarterfinals.

Playing against Li Yang Su, Kashyap went ahead at 3-2 but his opponent caught up with him at 7-7 before opening up a 12=7 lead. From 9-14 down, Kashyap fought back to reduce the margin to 14-15 before the Chinese Taipei star pulled ahead and won the game 21=16.

The Chinese Taipei shuttler went ahead 5-1 in the second game before closing the gap to 7-8. Kashyap caught up at 12-all before his opponent won the next four points to make it 16-12. Kashyap again reduced the margin to 16-15 and fought for each point but the Chinese Taipei player went on to win the second game 21-17 to secure a place in the quarterfinal.

Story Highlights: Taipei Open, Commonwealth Games, Parupalli Kashyap, Rohan Kapoor, Sikki Reddy, Tommy Sugiarto, Li Yang Su, Chinese Taipei, Mu Arena, Hsiang Chien Chiu, Xiao Min Lin, Yu Hsien Lin, BWF World Tour Super, The Indian World No, The Chinese Taipei