Japan Open: Prannoy scalps world No. 6, Sindhu knocked out

HYDERABAD: Continuing his giant-killing spree, HS Prannoy floored world No. 6 Jan O Jorgensen to join Kidambi Srikanth and Ajay Jayaram in the quarterfinals of the Japan Open in Tokyo on Thursday. But India suffered a shock reverse in the women's singles with PV Sindhu losing 6-21, 17-21 to Japan's Kane Yamaguchi who is ranked 133 rungs below her.
The Indian challenge came to an end in the men's doubles with Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy bowing to Chinese fourth seeds Xialong Liu and Qiu Zihan 17-21, 16-21 in the second round.
Anand Pawar was the lone casualty in the men's singles. The Mumbai shuttler went down to world No.1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia 12-21, 16-21. Prannoy gave a blistering start to the Indian campaign on the second day when he shunted out Jorgensen 21-14, 13-21, 21-17. The colourful Dane, who attracts attention with his antics and irritates opponents with his taunts, seemed clueless against Prannoy. Jayaram, who was a victim of Jorgensen's chatter during an IBL match when the Dane ridiculed him for not putting up a fight, must have savoured Prannoy's splendid victory.
Ranked 56th in the world, Prannoy was aggressive and dominated the first game. He broke free at 9-9 and never looked back. A change of court for the second affected his rhythm but the 21-year-old recovered quickly from the mid-game slump and from 7-7 in the decider he managed to stay ahead of the Dane. Though Jorgensen tried hard, Prannoy silenced him with a three-point burst from 18-17. The Indian will now take on world No.36 Huan Gao of China in the quarterfinals.
A day after notching the biggest upset of the tournament, local lad Kazuteru Kozai lost to Srikanth 12-21, 16-21. Surprisingly, chief coach of the Indian team Pullela Gopichand told TOI that he was not surprised by Sindhu's loss. "We can't expect consistent results from Sindhu. She is a great talent but needs a little more time. But Prannoy's victory was sensational. He is progressing quite fast," said Gopi, who did not travel with the team.
Results (Indians only)
Round II; Men's singles: HS Prannoy bt Jan O Jorgensen 21-14, 13-21, 21-17; Kidambi Srikanth bt Kazuteru Kozai 21-12, 21-16; Ajay Jayaram bt Yuichi Ikeda (Jpn) 21-13, 11-21, 21-18; Lee Chong Wei (Mas) bt Anand Pawar 21-12, 21-16.
Doubles: Xiaolong Liu/Zihan Qiu (Chn) bt Manu Attri/Sumeeth Reddy 21-17, 21-16.
Women's singles: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt PV Sindhu 21-6, 21-17.