Eng Champions-2: Lakshya Sen, Prannoy make winning starts
Eng Champions-2: Lakshya Sen, Prannoy make winning starts
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BIRMINGHAM: In the men's singles competition in Birmingham on Tuesday, Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy put on outstanding displays to advance to the second round of the All England Championships with tenacious straight-game victories.

The 21-year-old from Almora, who had reached the final in the final edition, claiming his first win over the world number 5 after losing twice in three meetings.Earlier, World No. 9 Prannoy survived some anxious moments before prevailing 21-19 22-20 against Tzu Wei Wang in his 49-minute opening round clash to take his overall tally to 5-3 over the Taiwanese.

Sen, who slipped to world No 19, will square off against either Anders Antonsen or Rasmus Gemke in the 2nd round, while Prannoy will meet 3rd seeded Indonesian Anthony Sinisuka Ginting next. The match between Chou and Sen expectedly turned out to be high pace contest. Earlier, Prannoy looked in good touch as he reeled off five points on the trot to zoom to a comfortable 11-4 lead.

However, the Indian was guilty of missing the lines twice and also found the net, allowing Wang to cut down the deficit to three points at 11-14. Prannoy managed to pull away to 18-12 with 4 straight points before Wang broke the run of points with an aggressive return after a fast-paced rally.

Wang then punished Prannoy for his weak returns and moved to 16-19 with a deceptive net return. A backhand going wide and then another one going long from Prannoy brought Wang to 19-19.Prannoy then unleashed a cross court smash to move to game point and then sent down another straight smash to close the game. The second game was a tightly fought battle from the word go as Wang opened up a 7-2 lead.

 Prannoy levelled the scores, only to miss the lines at his opponent’s forehand corner twice.He eventually brought down a booming smash to eke out a one point lead at the break. The two engaged in a slugfest next, moving neck and neck till 16- 16.Two venomous returns gave Prannoy a 19-17 lead but he once again squandered it as Wang made it 19-19. The Taiwanese went long next to hand over a match point to the Indian, who wasted it.However, a determined Prannoy ensured there was no lastminute hiccups as he rejoiced once Wang went to net.

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