H.S. Prannoy battled through pain in his ribcage and a shoulder injury to stun Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie in the opening round of Toyota Thailand Open Super 1000 tournament here on Wednesday.
A former top 10 player, Prannoy showed great resilience to outwit the World No. 7 Christie 18-21, 21-16, 23-21 in a thrilling contest that clocked 75 minutes. It is Prannoy’s first win against the sixth-seeded Indonesian in last four attempts.
The 28-year-old had spent two weeks stressing over his physical and mental health after contracting COVID-19 last November. The infection left him with pain in his ribcage even though everything looked normal in the tests.
He could resume training only in the second week of December but had to go through the ordeal of a false COVID positive result ahead of the Yonex Thailand Open last week.
Prannoy and Sameer Verma will carry India’s charge in men’s singles after the withdrawal of compatriots B. Sai Praneeth and K. Srikanth.
Praneeth and his roommate Srikanth were forced to pull out after the former tested positive for COVID-19.
Arjun-Dhruv advance
Among other Indians in the fray, the men’s doubles pair of M.R. Arjun and Dhruv Kapila beat New Zealand’s combination of Oliver Leydon-Davis and Abhinav Manota 23-21, 21-17 to enter the second round.
The women’s doubles pair of N. Sikki Reddy and Ashwini Ponnappa bowed out after losing 21-11, 21-19 to the German duo of Linda Efler and Isabel Herttrich.
It was curtains also for the mixed doubles combination of B. Sumeeth Reddy and Sikki Reddy.
The results (first round):
Men: H.S. Prannoy bt Jonaton Christie (Ina) 18-21, 21-16, 23-21. Doubles: M.R. Arjun & Dhruv Kapila bt Oliver Leydon-Davis & Abhinav Manota (NZ) 23-21, 21-17.
Women: Doubles: Linda Efler & Isabel Herttrich (Ger) bt N. Sikki Reddy & Ashwini Ponnappa 21-11, 21-19.
Mixed doubles: Pang Ron Hoo & Yee See Cheah (Mas) bt B. Sumeeth Reddy & Sikki Reddy 21-14, 18-21, 21-13.
