Palembang: Four Indian shuttlers, Ajay Jayaram, B Sai Praneeth, H S Prannoy and Anand Pawar advanced to the prequarterfinals of the USD 12,500 Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in the men’s singles competition, here Thursday.
Jayaram and Praneeth will clash in the prequarterfinals, following their gruelling three-game wins in the second round at the GOR Jakabaring stadium.
Finding his way back into international badminton after a shoulder injury, Jayaram, seeded 14th, prevailed over local shuttler Alamsyah Yunus 13-21 21-19 21-16 in a 56-minute battle.
Sixth seed Praneeth also dug deep to see off Malaysia’s Kian Meng Tan 21-19 18-21 21-17 in a hard-fought contest that lasted for an hour and 14 minutes today.
Fifth seeded Indian H S Prannoy also reached the prequarterfinals after notching up an nerve-wrecking 21-17 25-27 21-18 win over Indonesia’s Muhammad Bayu Pangisthu in an over one hour match. He will take on 16th seeded Sukamta Every of Indonesia.
The other Indian in fray, Anand Pawar, seeded fourth, beat Malaysia’s Joo Ven Soong 21-19 21-15 to set up a clash with another local shuttler, Mahbub Thomi Azizan.
