Top Indian shuttlers such as Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy came up with a great display in their respective singles matches to progress into the quarter finals of the Indian Open Super Series, which is scheduled to be played today.
However, another Indian hopeful, Parupalli Kashyap lost his encounter against Xue Song, but the highlight of the day remained Prannoy's victory against top seed, Jan Jorgensen.
The Indian showed his class and composure to defeat the Dane, who had in fact won the first set, but the Indian came back to win the other two sets. The score read 18-21 21-14 21-14.
Prannoy did even not lose his cool when the chair umpire overruled the judge's call. The game was very close between the two then. It could have decided the game's outcome as well.
"Though I lost the point, I was determined to keep my focus on the game. I have had some pretty close calls in many tournaments, so I did not let the coach's and crowd's agitation get to me," Fox Sports quoted Prannoy as saying.
With this victory, the Indian would face another sixth seeded Dane, Viktor Axelsen in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Another Indian Kidambi Srikanth was stretched to three sets by Japanese Kento Momota. The Indian won the first set, but the Japanese showed some fighting spirit to take the game to third set, where the Indian turned victorious. The score read 21-12, 15-21 and 21-15.
Srikanth will face another Japanese Takuma Ueda for a place in the semi-finals of the competition. But the Japanese might be confident on taking the Indian after ousting the seventh seed, Wang Zhengming from the competition.
Indian qualifier Gurusaidutt also has also progressed into the quarters, where he is set to face Song Xue.
Though there are a number of Indian players who have reached the quarters, Saina Nehwal is the lone survivor in the women's singles competition. The Indian defeated Ruthika Gadde, also from India in straight sets to set up a clash with Hana Ramadhini from Indonesia.
Ramadhini is going to be the first non Indian to compete against Nehwal in this competition, as the Indian icon faced home players in the first and second round.
The young Indonesian is not expected to trouble the Indian shuttler much, if Nehwal comes up with her normal game, as Ramadhini is ranked 79 in the current circuit as compared to Nehwal's number 2 world ranking.
Where to Watch Live
The Live coverage of the Yonex Sunrise India Open starts from 2pm IST (3:30am ET and 8:30 am GMT) with Live TV Coverage on Sony Six and Sony Six HD in India.
HS Prannoy Vs Viktor Axelsen is going to be the third match live on TV, which would be followed by women's singles match between Saina Nehwal vs Hana Ramadhini.
The second last game on TV as scheduled will be between Kidambi Srikanth Vs Takuma Ueda
For all the matches, Live Scores can be followed on the tournament's official website as well.
