Syed Modi International: HS Prannoy enters second round, Sameer Verma retires hurt

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Lucknow, January 18: India's HS Prannoy entered the second round of the men's singles competition at the Syed Modi International badminton tournament after registering a straight-game win over Ukraine's Danylo Bosniuk in Lucknow on Tuesday (January 18).

On a comeback trail, the fifth seeded India took just 36 minutes to get the better of Bosniuk 21-14 21-18 in his opening clash.

A former top-10 player, Prannoy, who gave a good account of himself before being stopped by 20-year-old Lakshya Sen in the quarterfinals of the India Open last week, will next meet compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat, who got a first round walkover from Rahul Yadav Chittaboina.

Meanwhile, the tournament was over for fourth seed Sameer Verma after he retired hurt against Ireland's Nhat Nguyen.

Sameer was training 2-7 in the first game before he decided to concede the match due to a calf muscle injury, which he had sustained in October last year.

Subhankar Dey also conceded his match against compatriot Kartikey Gulshan Kumar due to an injury when he was trailing 2-9 in the opening game.

Among women, Ashmita Chaliha gave a first round walkover to Malvika Bansod, while Aakarshi Kashyap defeated Mugdha Agrey 21-13 21-14 and Anupama Upadhyaya eased past Rituparna Das.

Two-time Olympic medallist and top seed PV Sindhu will open her campaign against compatriot Tanya Hemanth on Wednesday (January 19).