Malaysia Masters 2023: Prannoy stuns sixth seed Tien-chen; Sindhu, Sen & Srikanth also progress

Kuala Lumpur, May 24: India's HS Prannoy came from a game down to stun world number six Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei at the Malaysia Masters 2023 at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday (May 24).

Prannoy held his nerves after going a game down to upset Chou 16-21, 21-14, 21-13 in the men's singles first round match that lasted for an hour and 4 minutes. He will next lock horns against Shi Feng Li of China in the second round.

Also on Wednesday (May 24), Kidambi Srikanth defeated Toma Junior Popov 21-12 21-16 to enter the singles second round. He will next be up against Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn, seeded eighth on Thursday (May 25).

Later, Lakshya Sen got past seventh seed Loh Kean Yew of Singapore in the men's singles opening round. Sen defeated the Singaporean 21-10, 16-21, 21-9. He will next face Hong Kong's NG Ka Long Angus on Thursday (May 25) in the second round.

Earlier, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu had to dig deep to beat Denmark's Line Christophersen in the women's singles opening round to enter the pre-quarterfinals.

Sindhu, seeded sixth, had to toil for one hour and two minutes to get the better of Christophersen 21-13 17-21 21-18 and maintain her superiority over the world no. 33 Dane, who the Indian had defeated four times earlier.

The former World Champion from India, ranked 13th in the world, will next play Japan's Aya Ohori in the second round. However, it was curtains for qualifier Ashmita Chaliha, Malvika Bansod and Aakarshi Kashyap in the women's singles competition

The trio suffered straight-game defeats in their respective matches. While Ashmita lost 17-21 7-21 to fourth seed Yue Han of China, Aakarshi lost to top seed Japanese Akane Yamaguchi 17-21 12-21, and Malivka lost China's Wang Zhiyi 11-21, 13-21.

(With PTI inputs)