India’s badminton campaign at the Malaysia Open 2025 began on a high note as HS Prannoy and Malvika Bansod advanced to the pre-quarterfinals in the men’s and women’s singles categories, respectively, after securing victories in their opening matches on Wednesday.
HS Prannoy’s masterclass against Yang
Prannoy faced an unusual challenge when his match against Canada’s Brian Yang was halted due to water leakage from the roof. The match, which had started on Tuesday, was suspended with Yang leading 11-9 in the second game. After a delay of over an hour, play resumed on Wednesday, but the match was halted again as the leak persisted.
Despite the interruptions, Prannoy managed to maintain his composure and rally to claim a hard-fought victory with a score of 21-12, 17-21, 21-15 after an intense one-hour-and-29-minute battle. He will next face China’s seventh seed Shi Feng Li, who defeated Priyanshu Rajawat 21-11, 21-16 in another men’s singles encounter.
Malvika Bansod overcomes R32
In the women’s singles, rising shuttler Malvika Bansod delivered a commanding performance, defeating local favourite Goh Jin Wei 21-15, 21-16 in just 45 minutes. She will await the winner of the match between China’s third seed Yue Han and South Korea’s Yu Po Pai in the pre-quarterfinals.
HS Prannoy overcame Canada’s Brian Yang in a thrilling match, winning 21-12, 17-21, 21-15 at the Malaysia Open.
The game, which was halted yesterday due to roof leakage, resumed today with Prannoy sealing the victory.🇮🇳#Badminton #SKIndianSports pic.twitter.com/QhO63zyv0O
— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) January 8, 2025
Other results
Adding to the Indian camp’s joy, mixed doubles pairs Tanisha Crasto/Dhruv Kapila and Sathish Kumar Karunakaran/Aadya Variyath also sailed into the pre-quarterfinals of this Super 1000 tournament. Crasto and Kapila dispatched South Korea’s Sung Hyun Ko and Hye Won Eom 21-13, 21-14, setting up a challenging next-round clash against the seventh-seeded Chinese duo Xing Cheng and Chi Zhang.
Sathish and Aadya registered a convincing 21-13, 21-15 win over compatriots Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh and will now face Malaysia’s fourth-seeded pair, Soon Huat Goh and Shevon Jemie Lai.
However, the women’s doubles pairing of Rutaparna and Swetaparna Panda exited early, losing 17-21, 10-21 to Thailand’s Benyapa and Nuntakarn Aimsaard.
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