Japan Open: Prannoy to clash with Srikanth in pre-quarterfinals

Tokyo: Indian shuttlers Kidambi Srikanth and H S Prannoy will face in the pre-quarterfinals of the Japan Open after winning their respective round of 32 matches, here on Tuesday.

Former world No. 1 Srikanth, currently ranked 20th, defeated world No. 8 Chou Tien Chen 21-13, 21-13  in an encounter, which lasted 43 minutes. It was his second win over the Chinese Taipei shuttler in eight meetings.

Later, eighth seed Prannoy defeated world No. 7 and reigning All England champion Li Shi Feng 21-17, 21-13 in 49 minutes. It was the Indian’s third straight win over the Chinese shuttler.

In the women's singles opening round, Aakarshi Kashyap, world No. 42, went down 17-21, 17-21 to top-ranked Japanese Akane Yamaguchi in 34 minutes.

In the women's doubles, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand staged a comeback to beat the Japanese duo Sayaka Hobara and Yui Suizu Japan 11-21, 21-15, 21-14 in a little over an hour to advance to the pre-quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, Rohan Kapoor and N Sikki Reddy were ousted from the mixed doubles after the Indian pair lost 21-18, 9-21, 18-21 to Chinese Taipei’s Hong Wei and Lee Chia Hsin in 53 minutes.

Results at the Japan Open will count towards players' qualifying rankings for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The qualification window for badminton started on May 1.