Indonesia Masters: Priyanshu enters main draw, Praneeth’s struggle continues

India’s Priyanshu Rajawat returns a shot to Denmark’s Victor Svendsen during the men’s single match in the Indonesia Masters badminton tournament in Jakarta, Indonesia, on January 24, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

Priyanshu Rajawat progressed to the main draw with two fine victories but the rest of the Indians, including B. Sai Praneeth, in the men’s singles competition faltered in the qualifying round of the Indonesia Masters Super 500 tournament here on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old, who had reached the finals of Odisha Open Super 100 tournament in 2022, defeated Denmark’s Victor Svendsen 21-10 13-21 21-13 after getting rid of France’s Christo Popov 21-17 21-19 in the opening match.

Priyanshu, who was part of India’s Thomas Cup win, will face Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo in the opening match of the main draw.

The rest of the singles players couldn’t string together two wins and failed to make it to the main draw.

Malaysia’s Cheam June Wei defeated Praneeth 21-18 21-19. The former Singapore Open champion had beaten Indonesia’s Ikhsan Leonardo Imanuel Rumbay 21-18 9-21 21-15 in the first match.

Kiran George and Mithun Manjunath also bowed out after losing to Netherland’s Mark Caljouw and Indonesia’s Christian Adinata in the opening round of the qualifiers. Kartikey Gulshan Kumar won 21-8 21-14 against Malaysia’s Yeoh Seng Zoe but went down 16-21 17-21 to Lin Chun-Yi next to also miss out.

In the mixed doubles, Rohan Kapoor and N. Sikki Reddy beat Chinese Taipei’s Po Li-Wei and Chang Ching Hui 21-15 21-18 to progress to the main draw.

B. Sumeeth Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, who had played together at the Commonwealth Games, however, went down 20-22 17-21 to Indonesia’s Jafar Hidayatullah and Aisyah Salsabila Putri Pranata.

Sikki and Rohan will meet Jafar and Aisyah in main draw.

Aakarshi Kashyap, meanwhile, was promoted to the main draw, while world No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi withdrew after making the finals of the last two events at Malaysia and India.

The Indian doubles pair of Krishna Prasad and Vishnuvardhan Gou Panjala lost to Malaysia’s Tan Kian Meng and Tan Wee Kiong 17-21 9-21 in the opening round of the main draw.