A contest that headed for a possible upset of H.S. Prannoy fizzed out into a one-sided affair once Priyanshu Rajawat twisted his ankle in the second game.
A gracious Prannoy acknowledged the 21-year-old sparring partner’s rise in the last 18 months after his 20-22, 21-14, 21-14 victory in 76 minutes for a place in the men’s singles quarterfinals of the India Open badminton here on Thursday.
The only other Indian interest, second seeded combination of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy avenged the Japan Open loss to Chinese Taipei’s Liu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han 21-14, 21-15 for a place in the last-eight.
