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Sai Praneeth qualifies for Japan Open main draw
B. Sai Praneeth qualified for the main draw of the men’s singles at the Japan Open Super Series here Tuesday.
B. Sai Praneeth qualified for the main draw of the men’s singles at the Japan Open Super Series here Tuesday.
The 20-year-old won both his qualification rounds to enter the first round of the main draw where he will be facing Malaysia’s Daren Liew on Wednesday.
He beat Andrew Smith of England 21-15, 18-21, 21-19 in 45 minutes in the first round and Japan’s Riichi Takeshita 21-14, 21-15 in half an hour in the second.
Wednesday will see first round action of the main draws across all categories. P.V. Sindhu will be leading the Indian challenge in the women’s singles.
In men’s singles, Parupalli Kashyap will take on Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia while Ajay Jayaram will face Singaporean Zi Liang Derek Wong. Ajay Pawar faces a huge task of facing top seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia.
No Chinese players
China has withdrawn all their players from th meet citing safety fears as ties between Beijing and Tokyo worsen over a territorial row, officials said. “The BWF can confirm the Chinese contingent has withdrawn from the Japan Open,” Thomas Lund, the Badminton World Federation’s chief operating officer, said.
