SYDNEY: Indian Badminton players Prannoy H S, Srikanth Kidambi and Priyanshu Rajawat shine in the Round of 32 in the BWF World Tour of Australian Open Badminton tournament.
Prannoy defeated Hong Kong badminton player Lee Cheuk Yiu 21-18, 21-16, 21-15.
Prannoy managed to win the first set but the Hong Kong national made a comeback in the second set. The deciding set was comprehensively won by Prannoy.
Srikanth Kidambi triumphed over Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto, defeating him 21-18, 21-7.
Priyanshu Rajawat got the better of Australian shuttler Nathan Tang, defeating him 21-12 and 21-16. All three Indian badminton players will now progress to the Round of 16.
Prannoy was part of the India squad for the 2022 Thomas Cup. In the quarter-final against Malaysia, he won the decider match against Leong Jun Hao to assure India a semi-final spot and its first-ever medal in the Thomas Cup. He repeated this performance in the semi-final against Denmark, beating Rasmus Gemke in the deciding match to take India to the final, which India eventually won.
Prannoy also had a consistent year on the BWF World Tour, reaching six quarterfinals and two semifinals, as well as the quarterfinal of the 2022 BWF World Championships. This enabled him to re-enter the Top 15 in the BWF World Rankings after four years. He also qualified for the BWF World Tour Finals for the first time in his career.
A former world no. 1, Kidambi was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award, in 2018 and the Arjuna award in 2015. In 2021, he became the first Indian to reach the World Championship final in the men’s singles discipline.
Priyanshu Rajawat was part of the India team that won the 2022 Thomas Cup. (ANI)