Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth advanced to the quarter-finals of the men’s singles event at the Malaysia Masters 2025 badminton tournament in Bukit Jalil, while HS Prannoy lost his pre-quarterfinals clash, according to Olympics.com.
Former world No. 1 Srikanth, currently ranked 65th in the badminton world rankings, endured a tough battle against Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen before securing a 23-21, 21-17 win at the Axiata Arena in KL Sports City. The contest lasted nearly an hour.
Nhat Nguyen, ranked world No. 33, dominated the early exchanges and led 11-4 at the interval of the first game. However, the Indian shuttler flipped the script completely to register a thrilling victory.
Srikanth’s opponent in the quarter-finals of the BWF Super 500 tournament will be France’s Toma Junior Popov, who defeated Indian player Ayush Shetty 21-13, 21-17 in another round of 16 fixture.
India’s Sathish Karunakaran also bowed out after losing 21-14, 21-16 to Christo Popov, Toma’s brother and doubles partner.
World No. 35 HS Prannoy’s run at the Malaysia Masters ended in the pre-quarterfinals with a 21-9, 21-18 defeat to Japan’s 23rd-ranked Yushi Tanaka in a 39-minute encounter.
The three exits leave Srikanth as India’s lone remaining singles contender at this year’s Malaysia Masters.
None of the Indian women’s singles players, including two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu, managed to cross the opening round hurdle.
Meanwhile, India’s doubles challenge will also continue on a single front, with Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila reaching the top eight in the mixed doubles category.
The Indian duo beat France’s Lea Palermo and Julien Maio 21-17, 18-21, 21-15 in a hard-fought match to set up a quarter-final encounter against the People’s Republic of China’s Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin, bronze medalists from the 2023 World Championships.
Prerana Alvekar and Mrunmayee Deshpande’s journey in women’s doubles ended after a 21-9, 21-14 defeat to Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Yin-Hui and Lin Jhih-Yun, the world No. 17 pair and eighth seeds. (ANI)
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