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Indian ace shuttler HS Prannoy and the men's doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the quarterfinals of the ongoing China Masters badminton competition being held in Shenzhen on Thursday.
The world number eight-ranked shuttler Prannoy secured a 21-12, 21-18 win over Denmark's Magnus Johannesen in his pre-quarterfinals clash. The opening game was one-sided but Prannoy was put to the test by the Danish player. At one point, the second game was tied at 15-15 but the Indian clinched five successive points to put his opponent under pressure. Johannesen made a brief comeback to make it 20-18, but Prannoy wrapped up the game on a winning note in 40 minutes. The 31-year-old shuttler will now face Kodai Naraoka of Japan for a place in singles' semifinals. Prannoy has won only one out of five matches against Kodai. Their last match at the Indonesia Open 2023 - ended 21-18, 21-16 in the Indian's favour. On the other hand, world number five Satwiksairaj-Chirag won over Japan's Akira Koga-Taichi Saito of Japan 21-15, 21-16. In the opening game, the Indian pair led by 11-9 at the halfway mark and won the game by 21-15. Satwiksairaj-Chirag continued their domination for the next game as well, winning the match in 46 minutes. Satwik-Chirag will lock horns with Leo Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin for a spot in the semifinals of the men's doubles category. The Indians have a great record against the Indonesian pair, winning three head-to-head meetings against them. Results at China Masters 2023, a BWF Super 750 event, will be counted towards players' qualifying rankings for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The qualification window for badminton started on May 1 this year and will conclude in April 2024. The tournament started on November 21 and will go on till November 26. (ANI)
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