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Journalism of Courage
HS Prannoy defeated All England finalist Shi Yuqi 21-17, 19-21, 21-17 in the first round of the Swiss Open on Wednesday.
Prannoy had made the finals at Basel last year, going down to Jonatan Christie in the final.
Starting out confidently this year, the Indian took the opener 21-17, and was even 17-15 up in the second. However Shi Yuqi mounted a fightback, pushing a decider winning the second 21-19.
In the final set, Prannoy led 12-9, but Yuqi bounced back into the lead before the Indian shut him to win 21-17.
Yuqi was looking for his first title of the European swing after losing to Li Shifeng in Birmingham last week. It was a stiff first round for Prannoy, who seems to have a liking for St Jakobshalle, and has performed well there.
The Indian fifth seed now plays Christo Popov in the second round. Kidambi Srikanth plays Lee Cheuk Yiu and Mithun Manjunath plays Chia Hao Lee in mens singles.
