India’s number two shuttler HS Prannoy, rising shuttler Malvika Bansod, and the doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Malaysia Open after winning their respective opening round matches here on Wednesday.There was more delight for the Indian camp with the mixed doubles pairs of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila and Sathish Kumar Karunakaran and Aadya Variyath sailing into the mixed doubles pre-quarterfinals of the Super 1000 meet.Overcoming a delay caused by water leaking from the roof, Prannoy eliminated his Canadian rival Brian Yang 21-12, 17-21, 21-15. Persistent leakage had caused suspension of the match on Tuesday with Yang leading 11-9 in the second game. Despite conceding the second game, Prannoy maintained composure to seal the decider in a match lasting one hour and 29 minutes. Prannoy will next face seventh-seeded Shi Feng Li of China who ousted Priyanshu Rajawat 21-11, 21-16.Malvika breezed past local favorite Goh Jin Wei 21-15, 21-16 in just 45 minutes. She will face the winner of Chinese third seed Yue Han and Yu Po Pai of South Korea. Anupama Upadhyaya and Aakarshi Kashyap were the other Indian casualties in the women’s singles draw. While Anupama lost 21-17, 18-21, 21-8 to Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand, Aakarshi went down 14-21, 12-21 to Julie Jakobsen of Denmark.Meanwhile, Satwik and Chirag were tested by Korean duo Kai Wei Tang and Ming Che Lu in the first two games before the Indians put up a dominant display in the third. The former world no.1 pair, playing their second event after the Paris Olympics disappointment in August last year, won the opening game 21-10 before Tang and Lu fought back to take the second 21-16. Satwik and Chirag then upped the ante to race away with a 21-5 win in the third to seal the match.In other results, Kapila and Crasto defeated South Korea’s Sung Hyun Ko and Hye Won Eom 21-13, 21-14. They will face seventh-seeded Chinese pair Xing Cheng and Chi Zhang in the round of 16. Sathish and Aadya defeated Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh 21-13, 21-15 to set up a pre-quarters clash against fourth seed Soon Huat Goh and Shevon Jemie Lai of the host country. In women’s doubles, Rutaparna and Swetaparna Panda lost to Thailand’s Benyapa and Nuntakarn Aimsaard 17-21, 10-21.
