Indonesia Open 2023: HS Prannoy, Satwiksairaj and Chirag storm into semis, Kidambi Srikanth ousted

7th seed HS Prannoy stormed into the semi-final of Indonesia Open, a prestigious Super 1000 tournament.

In Jakarta after outclassing 3rd seed Kodai Naraoka in straight games in their men’s singles quarter-final match on Friday, June 16. Prannoy reached the semi-final of the Indonesia Open for the third time in his career and remains the only Indian left in the men’s singles field.

HS Prannoy looked in top gear as he knocked the wind out of Naraoka’s sails with a dominant display of badminton in Jakarta. The top-ranked Indian men’s singles shutter was excellent at both the front and the backcourt as he made Naraoka run all over the court. When he closed in on the victory in the second game, Naraoka lay flat on the court after losing a rally and was gasping for breath.

Such was Prannoy’s dominance who used his jump smashes to great effect, storming to a 21-18, 21-16 victory in just 55 minutes.

HS Prannoy has been in good form in Jakarta, having not lost a game so far while outclassing Kenta Nishimoto, Ng Ka Long Angus and Naraoka en route to the semi-finals.

The only Indian, who is ranked in the top 10 in men’s singles, will face the winner of another quarter-final between top seed Viktor Axelsen and 5th seed Chou Tien Chen.

SRIKANTH OUSTED, SAT-CHI DECIMATE NO.1 SEEDS
Earlier in the day, Kidambi Srikanth lost his quarter-final match to Li Shi Feng of China. The World No. 20, who had beaten Lakshya Sen in the 2nd round on Thursday, lost 14-21, 21-14, 12-21 to the Chinese shutter in a hard-fought contest.

However, there was a delight for India in the men’s doubles campaign as Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the 7th seeded Indian pair, decimated top seeds and local favorites Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto 21-13, 21-13.

The young Indian pair, who have shown the hunger to step up in big tournaments, will next face the winners of another men’s doubles quarter-final between South Korea’s Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae and Indonesia’s Leo Carnando/Daniel Marthin.

Earlier in the tournament, two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu suffered a second-round defeat while up and coming women’s doubles pairing of Gayatri Gopichand and Jolly Treesa also lost in the second round.