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Lakshya beat Chinese Taipei’s Yang 21-17 21-13, while Prannoy, rallied to get the better of Saut Marcellyno 6-21 21-12 21-17 in a 57-minute first-round match.
HS Prannoy. (Picture credit: BAI Media)
Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy, delivered impressive performances to progress to the men’s singles second round at the USD 475,000 Australian Open Super 500 event on Wednesday.
Lakshya, a bronze-medallist at the 2021 World Championships, comfortably defeated Chinese Taipei’s Su Li Yang 21-17 21-13. Prannoy, a runner-up in 2023, bounced back from a poor start to overcome world No. 85 Yohanes Saut Marcellyno 6-21 21-12 21-17 in a 57-minute first-round match.
Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya will next face either Chi Yu Jen or Wang Tzu Wei. Prannoy, a 33-year-old bronze-medallist at the Asian Games and the 2023 World Championships, will meet eighth seed Alwi Farhan of Indonesia.
World No. 32 Ayush Shetty, who secured his maiden Super 300 title at the US Open earlier this year, comfortably defeated Canada’s Sam Yuan 21-11 21-15 in 33 minutes. The 20-year-old from Karnataka, a bronze-medallist at the 2023 World Junior Championships, will face fourth seed Kodai Naraoka of Japan.
Tharun Mannepalli, a semifinalist at the Macau Open, triumphed over Denmark’s Magnus Johannesen 21-13 17-21 21-19 in a 66-minute battle. The 2023 National Games gold-medallist will compete against fifth seed Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei.
Veteran Kidambi Srikanth, a silver-medallist at the 2021 World Championships, also advanced after outlasting world No. 20 Lee Chia Hao of Chinese Taipei 21-19 19-21 21-15 in a 64-minute contest. Srikanth, who was the runner-up at the Malaysia Masters earlier this year, will next play either Japan’s Shogo Ogawa or Edward Lau.
Kiran George put up a spirited fight before narrowly losing 21-11 22-24 17-21 to sixth seed Kenta Nishimoto, who had beaten Lakshya en route to the final at the Japan Masters last week.
The Indian mixed doubles pair of Mohit Jaglan and Lakshita Jaglan were eliminated by Canada’s Nyl Yakura and Crystal Lai with a score of 12-21 16-21.
In the match against Su, Lakshya took control from 5-5, leading 11-6 at the break and extending it to 15-7. Although Su narrowed the gap to 12-15, Lakshya maintained control and secured four game points after Su’s backhand error, sealing the opener with a smash.
In the second game, both players battled evenly for the first 12 points before Lakshya established an 11-8 lead at the interval. With strong attacks and steady defence, Lakshya closed out the match with a sharp cross-court return that Su failed to connect with properly.
(With Inputs From PTI)
November 19, 2025, 15:42 IST
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