India's experienced badminton player Kidambi Srikanth has moved into the second round of the French Open Super 750 following an impressive win over Chou Tien Chen. While Srikanth celebrates, teammate HS Prannoy was unfortunately knocked out early in the event. The world No. 24, who is working hard to secure Olympic qualification for Paris, defeated the 14th-ranked Chen 21-15, 20-22, 21-8 in a match that lasted just over an hour, adding another win to his head-to-head record against the Taiwanese athlete.
India’s senior shuttler Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the men’s singles second round with a stunning victory over Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien Chen, but HS Prannoy was unable to advance in the French Open Super 750 badminton event, which began on Wednesday. Srikanth, the world No.24 racing against time to qualify for the Paris Olympics, defeated 14th-ranked Chen 21-15, 20-22, 21-8 in a 66-minute first-round match, his third victory over the Taiwanese shuttler in seven meetings.
The 2021 world championship silver medalist, Srikanth, is now set to play against Lu Guang Zu of China. Lu, ranked 17th in the world, previously knocked out HS Prannoy with a straight-sets victory (21-17, 21-17) at the Arena Porte de la Chapelle.
Srikanth looked like the stronger athlete throughout, recovering from an early 5-7 deficit to dominate the first game. The second game was far more stressful, with Chen fighting back and barely holding on to push the contest into a third set. Once the third game began, Srikanth found his rhythm again, scoring nine consecutive points from a 7-5 position to put the game out of reach. Chen managed a few final points, but Srikanth ended the match decisively with five straight points.
Meanwhile, on the neighboring court, Prannoy seemed poised for victory before Lu Guang Zu turned the tide. Prannoy started strong, leading 5-2 in the opening game, and quickly responded to Lu's rally to maintain a three-point lead by the interval. The match featured several high-intensity rallies with Prannoy controlling the tempo, but the Chinese player stayed patient, remaining within two points and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
That moment came when Prannoy hit a backhand into the net, allowing Lu to tie the game at 16-16. Another error from Prannoy opened the door further, and Lu eventually secured the first set with a sharp return to Prannoy's backhand. The second game began poorly for Prannoy, who trailed 0-3. He did manage to fight back to 6-6, highlighted by a powerful down-the-line smash on the forehand side.
However, consistency became an issue as Prannoy missed several shots wide and long. Lu capitalized on these mistakes to establish an 11-7 lead by the break. Although Prannoy won three points in a row to stay in the fight, Lu closed it out by converting three match points, ending the game with a powerful smash and a precise forecourt return.