BWF World Championships 2022: Prannoy, Kapila-Arjun, Satwik-Chirag reach quarterfinal; Saina, Sen crash out

Tokyo, August 25: HS Prannoy overcame Laksya Sen in an all-Indian third round match to reach the men's singles quarterfinal in the BWF World Championships 2022 on Thursday (August 25) at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.

Prannoy, who went a game down, fought back to oust the young Sen after a 17-21, 21-16, 21-17 win in the round of 16 match that lasted for an hour and 15 minutes on Court 3.

The 30-year-old Prannoy, who had eliminated two-time world champion Kento Momota of Japan to reach the last 16, will now face China's unseed Zhao Junpeng in the quarterfinal on Friday (August 26).

BWF World Championships 2022: Indian shuttlers in action, schedule, results, telecast and live streaming info

Earlier, Indian men's doubles pairs of Dhruv Kapila-MR Arjun and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty also reached the quarterfinal on Thursday (August 25).

The duo of Kapila and Arjun started the day on a great note after coming from a game down to beat Singaporean pair of Loh Kean Hean and Terry Hee (18-21, 21-15, 21-16) in a third round match that lasted for close to an hour.

The first game was closely contested and the Singaporean pair capitalized on key moments, putting pressure on the Indian duo to edge past the Indians with a brilliant display of attacking shots.

However, the Indian pair, who had upset Danish eighth seeds in the second round, bounced back with a stunning display of skills right through the second game to level the match.

In the decider, the pair of Kapila and Arjun built pressure right from the beginning, playing with great tactics and not giving away opportunities to close out the game and the match.

Satwik-Chirag pair, on the other hand, continued their rich vein of form as they dismantled Denmark pair of Jeppe Bay and Lasse Molhede in straight games 21-12, 21-10 in a match that lasted for only 35 minutes.

The pair annihilated their Danish opponents and left them stunned by their superior gameplay. The Indian shuttlers were dominant throughout the match hardly giving any opportunities to the Danish pair.

Now, the two Indian men's doubles pair will look to seal a semifinal slot and maintain their hopes of first-ever Indian men's doubles podium finish.

BWF World Championships Winners: Full list of champions from 1977 to 2021

Kapila and Arjun will next face Indonesian third seeds Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan in the quarterfinal on Friday (August 26). The Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medallists Satwik-Chirag will face Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi of Japan.

While there was joy in men's doubles, there was disappointment in women's singles as Saina Nehwal, who was a medal hope in PV Sindhu's absence, crashed out of the tournament after a closely fought third round match.

The 2015 silver medallist Nehwal lost 17-21, 21-16, 13-21 to Thailand's twelfth seeded Busnan Ongbamrungphan in the third round match that lasted for an hour and four minutes.