Praneeth, Prannoy pocket bronze

Three Indians qualify for YOG

There was more good news for India as Praneeth and Prannoy among boys and PV Sindhu in the girls’ section qualified for the Youth Olympic Games to be held at Singapore in August this year.

The tournament, which concluded on April 25, saw some brilliant performances from the Indian junior shuttlers, mainly Prannoy and Praneeth.

Prannoy had a good run, beating second-seeded Malaysian Loh Wei Sheng in the first round and then notching up a win against ninth-seeded Hseih Feng of Chinese Taipei in the pre-quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals, Prannoy defeated Liu Kai of China 21-9, 21-9 with his powerful smashes before going down 9-21, 13-21 to Korean Kong Ji Wook in the semifinals.
Praneeth also put up a splendid performance, defeating Boonyakorn Thumphanichwong of Thailand in the first round before getting past Claer Bout Lucas of France in the pre-quarters.

The Indian lad then defeated Subagja Riyanto of Indonesia 21-14, 21-10 in the quarterfinals before succumbing in the semifinals to Axelsen Viktor of Denmark 17-21, 21-17 15-21.

In the girls’ singles event, Sindhu was at her best as she defeated fifth seed Korean Choi Hye Jin in the first round before beating Wentholt Josephine of the Netherlands in the pre-quarterfinals.

But the Indian lost in the quarterfinals, going down to second-seeded Chinese Suo Di 21-13, 17-21, 15-21, a Badminton Association of India release said.

Later, Sindhu beat Carolina Marin of Spain 21-17, 21-19 to finish fifth.
In the team championships, India defeated America, Singapore and England by identical 3-0 margins before losing 2-3 to Denmark to finish ninth.