HS Prannoy beat Chen Long a day after getting the better of Lee Chong Wei. (Source: AP)
HS Prannoy continued his giant-killing at the Indonesian Super Series Premier event on Friday when he beat reigning Olympics gold medallist Chen Long in the quarterfinals. This comes a day after he edged another giant of the game in Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia to progress in the tournament. Prannoy will now face the winner of the quarterfinal between Kazumasa Sakai and Rajiv Ouseph.
Prannoy in not the only Indian left in the men’s singles draw. Kidambi Srikanth also booked his place in the last four when he beat Tzu Wei Wang of Chinese Taipei. He next faces second seed Son Wan Ho who got the better of Chou Tien Chen, from South Korea, in the other quarterfinal. With this, the prospect of another all-Indian final remains possible after Singapore Open saw Srikanth take on B Sai Praneeth. In that final, Praneeth had come up top.
After a resounding win in straight games against Chong Wei on Thursday, Prannoy needed three games and an hour and 15 minutes to beat Chen Long of China. The Indian won the opening game, dropped the second before winning the third 21-18, 16-21, 21-19. Over in the other contest for Srikanth it was relatively straight forward as he dispatched Wang 21-15, 21-14 in just 37 minutes.
Prannoy has shown strong form ever since his knee injury at the end of March. Srikanth too has been on a rebuilding curve since his ankle injury last year which ruled him out for a lengthy period.
