All England Open: Sai Praneeth stuns World No.2 Lee Chong Wei to enter second round

Ranked no.37th in the world, Sai Praneeth went into the match against World No.2 Lee Chong Wei expecting a hammering after losing four times in the past to the Malaysian. But it turned out to be a totally different story as the Hyderabad lad stunned the former all England champion in straight sets to move to the next round.

It all started in a routine fashion, the Malaysian ace looked the best on the court in the initial exchanges and raced to a 15-7 lead to leave the Indian to do all the hardwork in the opening game. But Praneeth had read a different script, and mounted a comeback by winning eight points in a row to level things up at 15-15. Both players matched each other point for point from there on in a race to win the first game. Although, Praneeth failed in his first two attempts to finish the game, he took the third game point to win 24-22.

Everyone expected a big comeback from the World No. 2 in the second game, and he once again led the game for the most parts and looked on course for a victory with a 17-12 lead. As was the story in the first game, Praneeth pocketed four points in a row and caught up with the champion at 19-19. Although Chong Wei had a chance to seal the second game in his favour, the never-say-die attitude of the Indian saw him saving the game point before jumping ahead to claim it 22-20.

The win for Praneeth also marked the end of a 21-match winning streak for the Malaysian ace, who had won four titles since October. Sai Praneeth will next face World No. 23 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus from Denmark on Thursday.

World No. 10 Kidambi Srikanth also entered the second round on Wednesday by defeating Rajiv Ouseph 21-17, 21-12 to set up an encounter with World No.3 Kento Momota of Japan.

Junior World No. 1 Sameer Verma, who came through the qualifiers, also joined Srikanth and Praneeth in the second round of Men’s Singles after defeating Hu Yun 21-10, 21-14. He will next face eighth seed Tian Houwei from China.

In the Women’ Singles, World No.2 Saina Nehwal made a successful return from injury to register a comfortable victory over Michele Li from Canada. The Indian looked in good rhythm from the start and led from the start to race to an 18-11 lead. Although, Saina wasted three chances to finish the first game, she took the fourth chance and won it 21-17.

After losing the first game, Michele Li raced off her blocks in the second game and took a 7-4 lead against the 2012 Olympics bronze medallist. But the Canadian’s challenge fell by the wayside as Saina progressed steadily to take the second game 21-12 to finish the second game. The 25-year old will next face Busanan Ongbumrungpan in the second round on Thursday.

However, on the whole it was a mixed day for the Indian contingent with HS Prannoy, Ajay Jayaram and PV Sindhu crashing out of the tournament. Prannoy was defeated by Xue Song from China 20-22, 15-21, while Jayaram lost a tight encounter against Angus Ng Ka Long 18-21, 21-19, 19-21.

PV Sindhu also bowed out of the tournament after a defeat against Porntip Buranaprasertsuk 21-18, 17-21, 12-21.

The women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa and the men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy also bid goodbye to the tournament after suffering first round defeats.