BWF World Championships: Prannoy stuns Lakshya; Saina Nehwal ousted
What's the story
India's HS Prannoy staged a spirited comeback to stun compatriot and 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Lakshya Sen to enter the men's singles quarter-finals at the BWF World Championships.
Prannoy came from a game down to beat Sen. He won the contest 17-21, 21-16, 21-17.
Notably, this was the fourth meeting between the two in 2022, with the tally reading 2-2.
Saina
Saina Nehwal bows out
India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal suffered a defeat to crash out in the women's singles event.
She lost to Busanan Ongbamrungphan in a hard-fought women's singles pre-quarterfinals on Thursday.
The 32-year-old went down 17-21, 21-16, 13-21 to her Thai opponent.
Busanan has extended her head-to-head record against Saina to 5-3.
Defeat
Saina falls short in a crunch encounter
Saina was under pressure from the very beginning, trailing 3-11 in the opening game.
However, she fought back to make it to to 17-19 but Ongbamrungphan held her nerve.
A much confident Saina was more aggressive in the second game and forced a decider.
Ongbamrungphan gained momentum in the third game and opened up a decisive lead as Saina's fight cooled down.
Information
Saina's poor run of form continues
Saina has endured a difficult run in 2022. Injuries and lack of consistency has derailed her progress. So far, she has a 10-11 win-loss record on the BWF Tour. Saina will next be seen at the Japan Open.
Numbers
Key numbers for Lakshya and Prannoy
Lakshya has a 22-12 win-loss record in 2022 on the BWF Tour. He has managed to win just one title - Yonex Sunrise India Open.
Meanwhile, Prannoy has raced to a 30-11 win-loss record in 2022. He had earlier reached the final of the Swiss Open.
Prannoy will take on China's Zhao Jun Peng in the quarter-finals.