Malaysia Open 2023: Prannoy, Satwik-Chirag pair reach quarterfinal; Jolly-Gopichand pair crash out

Kuala Lumpur, January 12: HS Prannoy and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty pair kept the Indian challenge in the Malaysia Open 2023 alive as they progressed to the quarterfinals in their respective categories on Thursday (January 12).

Playing on Court 1 at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Prannoy overcame Indonesia's Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo by 21-9, 15-21, 21-16 in the men's singles second round match that lasted for an hour and four minutes.

From the start, Prannoy asserted his dominance, winning the first game with ease. But the Indonesian fought back to claim the second game 21-15 to force the decider.

Both players attempted to outwit each other with crosscourt smashes in the decider. However, Prannoy took a five-point lead and went on to win the match after taking the game 21-16.

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Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Games champions and world No. 5 pair Shetty and Rankireddy defeated world No. 11 Indonesian pair of Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana in straight games, but it wasn't a straightforward win.

The Indian pair took the first game 21-19 and the second game was even more tighter as the Indonesian forced the match deep, but the top Indian doubles pair held their nerve to clinch the match by 22-20.

Earlier on Thursday (January 12), CWG bronze medalists Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand were eliminated from tournament after losing in the women's doubles round of 16 to Bulgaria's Gabriela Stoeva and Stefani Stoeva.

The Indian pair, 16th in the BWF rankings in women's doubles, lost the match 13-21, 21-15, 17-21 to the world No. 14 duo in 69 minutes clash.

Earlier in the tournament, former World Champion PV Sindhu, former Olympic medallist Saina Nehwal, CWG champion Lakshya Sen and former world number one Srikanth Kidambi suffered first round exits.

While Sindhu lost to Carolina Marin in the women's singles match, Nehwal lost to Han Yue, Srikanth lost to Kenta Nishimoto and Sen lost to compatriot Prannoy.