Prannoy too good for Ajay in round one

Prannoy, who emerged runner-up to Sai Praneeth B in the last Junior Nationals, shocked top seed Ajay Jayaram in the first round before outwitting Srikanth K 17-21, 21-13, 21-16 to book a spot in the quarterfinals at the Karnataka Badminton Association courts.

Having defeated Ajay 21-18, 22-20 in the morning session, Prannoy appeared full of confidence against the unheralded Srikanth of Andhra Pradesh. Mixing smashes with occasional net play, the 18-year-old Prannoy kicked himself to a 14-10 lead and just when he appeared to race away, Srikanth staged a remarkable recovery to claim the first game.

The loss of the opening game seemed to spur Prannoy as he had Srikanth running for cover in a completely lop-sided second before completing the comeback job with a tenacious display in the decider.

Among the upsets in the opening round, Railways’ P Vinay Kumar Reddy accounted for fourth seed Mohit Kamat, Abhimanyu Singh felled third-seeded Tanishak K while Ajit Wijetilak put it past eighth seed Nanda Gopal K. However, only Abhimanyu was able to make it to the last-eight stage.

Results (all pre-quarterfinals): Men, singles: Nikhil Kanetkar (PSPB) bt P Vinay Kumar Reddy (Rly) 21-16, 21-14; Anand Pawar (AI) bt Srujan Nandaluri (AP) 21-13, 21-13; Rohan Castellino (Kar) bt Saurav Kapur (Har) 21-17, 21-12; Sai Praneeth B (AP) bt B Sumeeth Reddy (AP) 21-13, 21-11; Anup Sridhar (PSPB) bt Ajit Wijetilak (Kar) 21-13, 21-14; Prannoy HS (Air India) bt Srikanth K (AP) 17-21, 21-13, 21-16; Saurabh Verma (MP) bt Siddarth Jain (TN) 21-17, 21-9; Abhimanyu Singh (MP) bt Eshan Naqvi (Mah) 22-24, 21-13, 21-10.
First round: Prannoy bt Ajay Jayaram (PSPB) 21-18, 22-20; Srikanth K bt Rohit More (Rly) 21-10, 21-10; Siddarth J bt Kirshna SDS (AP) 21-14, 23-21; Saurabh V bt Venkatesh Prasad (Kar) 21-11, 21-10; P Vinay KR bt Mohit Kamat (Kar) 21-17, 21-19; Nikhil K bt Vijetha NVS (AP) 21-13, 21-15; Srujan N bt Anshuman Hazarika (Asm) 21-16, 21-9; Anand P bt Ajay Kumar (Rly) 21-5, 21-10; Saurav K  w/o Vidyadhar JBS (PSPB); Rohan C bt Hirak Jyoti Neog (AI) 21-17, 21-14; Eshan N bt Aneesh KA (Ker) 21-19, 21-13; Abhimanyu S bt Tanishak K (AP) 21-16, 13-21, 21-19; B Sumeeth R (AP) bt Prakash Jolly (Kar) 21-12, 21-11; Sai PB bt Nanda Gopal K (Rly) 11-21, 21-14, 21-18; Ajit W bt Himanshu Kharbanda (Del) 21-19, 6-21, 21-16; Anup S bt Utsav Mishra (AI) 21-17, 21-12.
Women’s singles: Trupti Murgunde (PSPB) bt Anita Ohlan (Rly) 21-8, 21-13; Sindhu PV (AP) bt Jacqueline Rose Kunnath (Kar) 21-15, 21-9; Dhanya Nair (Rly) bt Mohita Sahdev (Del) 21-9, 21-17; Neha Pandit (Mah) bt Anjali Kalita (Rly) 21-10, 21-13; Bibari Basumatary (Asm) bt Poornima CH 21-14, 21-15; Thulasi PC (Ker) bt Parssa Naqvi (Rly) 21-14, retd;
First round: Trupti M bt Sanyogita Ghorpade (Mah) 21-12, 21-10; Anita O bt Rachita Sahdev (Del) 21-11, 21-6; Jacqueline RK bt Mudra Dhainje (AI) 21-14, 21-18; Sindhu PV bt Tanvi Lad (Mah) 21-15, 21-18; Neha P bt Poorvisha SR (Kar) 21-11, 21-14; Anjali K bt Garima Yadav (MP) bt 21-11, 21-11; Bibari B bt Anuradha S (AI) bt 21-19, 13-21, 21-13; Poornima CH bt Ruth Misha V (Kar) 21-19, 21-14; Saili Rane (AI) bt Arathi Sara Sunil (Ker) 21-14, 21-16; Arundhati P bt Radhika Singh Bhati (Raj) 21-6, 21-5; Parssa N bt Nischitha GM (Kar) 22-20, 17-21, 21-19; Thulasi PC bt Daya Elsa Jacob (Ker) 21-11, 21-10; Mohita S bt Manali Sinha (Asm) 21-3, 21-16; Dhanya N bt Sonal More (Rly) 21-19, 19-21, 21-18; Sampa S bt Saloni Yadav (MP) 21-15, 21-7; Sayali G bt Chitra Lekha (Rly) 21-14, 21-12.
Doubles: Men: Venkat Gaurav (Cha)/ Manish Gupta (UP) bt Vineeth Manuel (Kar)/ Krishna SDS (AP) 18-21, 21-13, 11-5 (retd); Sai Praneeth B (AP)/ Nanda Gopal K bt Srikanth K (AP)/ Hemanagendra Babu T (AP) 9-21, 21-9, 21-10; Kiran Kumar B (Rly)/ Dinesh Tirupathi (Rly) bt Mayank Behal (PNB)/ Tanveer Gill (Del) 22-20, 21-10.    
Women: Jwala Gutta (PSPB)/ Ashwini Ponnappa (Kar) bt Meenakshi Nair (Rly)/ Mohita Sahdev (Del) 21-9, 21-16; Sarada Govardhini (AP)/ Anita Ohlan (Rly) bt Abantika Deka (Asm)/ Nitya Sosale (Kar) 21-15, 21-18; Aparna Balan (PSPB)/ Prajakta Sawant (Mah) bt Jagriti Nashier (Har)/ Jyoti Nashier (Har) 21-5, 21-11; Pradnya Gadre (Mah)/ Jyotshna (AI) bt Sindhu PV (AP)/ Arundhati Pantawane (Mah) 21-15, 21-14; Rituparna Das (WB)/ Maneesha K (AP) bt Sanyogita Ghorpade (Mah)/ Sampada Sahasrabuddhe (Mah) 21-10, 21-19; Anjali Kalita (Rly)/ Dhanya Nair (Rly) bt Linymol PS (Ker)/ Arathi Sara Sunil (Ker) 21-19, 21-15.
Mixed doubles: Arun Vishnu (Ker)/ Aparna Balan (PSPB) bt Guru Prasad D/ Nischitha GM 21-17, 21-12; Dibyajyoti Borah (Asm)/ Abantika Deka (Asm) bt Aneesh KA (Ker)/ Linymol PS (Ker) 1-0, retd; Mayank Behal (PNB)/ Anjali Kalita (Rly) bt Venkat Gaurav (Cha)/ Juhi Dewangan (Cha) 21-18, 21-10; Suraj PH (Ker)/ Bibari Basumatary (Asm)/ bt Prem Singh Chouhan (Raj)/ Radhika Singh Bhati (Raj) 21-17, 21-15; Jishnu Sanyal (AI)/ Jyotsna (AI) bt Ram C Vijay (Ker)/ Megha Merin Ninan (Ker) 21-19, 21-16; Pranav Chopra (AI)/ Prajakta Sawant (Mah) bt Manjush Mohan KK (Ker)/ Arathi Sara Sunil (Ker) 21-11, 21-11.