All England Badminton Championship 2021: Indian shuttlers performance on day 2

 

It was a mixed day as 3 Indian shuttlers made into the quarterfinals of the Super 1000 All England Badminton Championship 2021 played at Birmingham on Thursday.

In the opening match at Court number 1, HS Prannoy lost to World number 1 Kento Momota in two straight games. The first game saw both shuttlers play attacking badminton putting the opponents under pressure. After the initial struggle, Momota was too strong in his defense and attack making life tough for the Indian. From 7-6 up, the Japanese took an 11-7 lead at the interval. After the break, Momota maintained the domination over Prannoy and won the first game at 21-15.

The second game saw HS Prannoy showed aggressive intent and put Momota under pressure with smashes, but Momota kept the Indian under good pressure. At the mid-game interval, Prannoy led 11-9. After the break, Japanese took 7 points in succession including 2 successive reviews and won it easily by 21-14 to move into the quarterfinals.

The mixed doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj RankiReddy lost to Yuki Kaneko and Matsutmo of Japan in two straight games. It was a closely fought game as both pairs took alternate points till 8-8. Ponnappa and RankiReddy took 3 successive points to take an 11-8 lead. After the break, the Indian pair maintained their domination before the Japanese pair equaled the score. Both pairs fought for each point before the Japanese pair won the first game at 21-19.

Lakshya Sen defeated Thomas Rouxel of France in two straight sets. It was a closely fought match as both players fought it out before Sen won it 21-18, 21-17 to move into the quarterfinals. He will face Mark Crawjouw of the Netherlands.

The Japanese pair dominated Ponnappa and Satwik not allowing them a chance into the game-winning it easily by 21-9 to move into the 2^nd round.

Sai Praneeth went down fighting to Victor Axselen in three games. It was a closely fought start to the game as both players fought for each point till 8-8. At the mid-game interval, Praneeth took an 11-9 lead. After the interval, the Indian dominated the Danish player winning it 21-15.

Victor Axselen came back strongly in the next two games to win it easily 21-12, 21-12 to move into the quarterfinals.

Sameer Verma lost to Anders Antonsen of Denmark in two straight games. Anders started off aggressively putting the Indian under pressure with an early 6-2 lead. Sameer fought back strongly to take points in succession to level the score at 9-9 and maintained an 11-9 lead at the interval. After the break, Sameer Verma was looking to take the game, but Anders again showed resilience to level the scores. The Indian had 3 game points, but the Danish player took 5 points in succession winning the first game 22-20.

The second game was a one-sided affair as Antonsen was too good for the Indian and won the game easily at 21-10 to move into the quarterfinals.

PV Sindhu defeated Line Christophen in two straight games easily. It was a dominating performance by the Indian who showed her class winning it 21-8, 21-8 to move into the quarterfinals. She will take on Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.

The women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Sikki Reddy stunned Gabriel and Stefani Steova in two straight games. Ponnappa and Reddy played with an attacking approach making life tough for the opposition. At the mid-game interval, the Indian pair led 11-9. After the break, Gabriel and Steova made a strong comeback, but Ponnappa and Reddy always maintained good pressure on the opponent winning it 21-17.

Ponnappa and Reddy dominated the opposition right from the word go in the second game-winning it easily 21-10 to move into the quarterfinals. They will take on S Piek and Seinen of Netherlands in the quarterfinals.

Satwiksairaj RankiReddy and Chirag Shetty went down fighting to Rasmussen and Astrup in a thrilling match. The opening game saw the Indian pair started aggressively taking an early lead. After the initial hiccups, the Danish player made a strong comeback to level the scores and then took an 11-8 lead at the interval. After the break, the match went from one side to another as the Indian pair made it equal at 12-12. The Danish pair took advantage of the mistakes by the Indian and won it 21-16.

Chirag and RankiReddy played with aggression in the second game putting the Danish pair under pressure taking an 11-6 lead at the interval. After the break, it was one-way traffic as the Indian pair won the 2^nd game at 21-11 to force the match into the decider.

The final game was a see-saw affair as both pairs fought for each point. As things looked drifting from one side, the other pair came strongly. After the break, the Indian pair made mistakes hitting on the net as Astrup and Rasmussen held their nerves to win the game at 21-17.

 

PV Sindhu and 3 other Indian shuttles move into the QF of All England Badminton Championship