French Open: HS Prannoy downs Malaysia's D Liew
Oct 26, 2022
Spain [France], October 26 : Indian ace shuttler HS Prannoy advanced into the second round after defeating Malaysian D Liew in the French Open after a see-saw battle that stretched to three sets at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin on Wednesday.
Prannoy had to toil hard to register a win against the much lower-ranked opponent 21-16, 16-21, 21-16. China's Lu Guang Zu will be the next hurdle in the Indian shuttler's way.
The Indian shuttler started superbly winning the first set in a jiffy as the shuttler gave proof of why he is currently at the top BWF World Tour Finals 2022 rankings, to take the first set 21-16.
Liew, however, came back in the second set with excellent court play to level the match.
The final set was initially going neck to neck with both the shuttlers dishing out their best on the court.
But the Indian proved too good for the Malaysian in the final stages of the set as he came soaring back in the game to win the set and the match 21-16.
Earlier Sameer Verma defeated Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia, currently ranked No. 6 in the world and a bronze medalist at Tokyo 2020.
Sameer Verma defeated the opponent who had eliminated him from the Swiss Open earlier this year in a nail-biting match 21-15, 21-23, and 22-20.
The last win came at 2016 All England Open, marking the Indian's second triumph against the Indonesian ace in four encounters.
Next up for Sameer Verma will be Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn, ranked 10th in the world.
The Indian men's doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila crashed out of the ongoing French Open 2022 in the first round after losing to Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia in Paris on Wednesday.
The Indian pair lost in two straight games by 15-21, 16-21. Arjun and Kapila offered some solid competition to their Indonesian opponents but it was not enough.
