HS Prannoy enters second round of Syed Modi badminton, Sameer Verma retires hurt

Fifth-seeded India took just 36 minutes to get the better of Bosniuk 21-14 21-18 in his opening clash.

India’s HS Prannoy entered the second round of the men’s singles competition at the Syed Modi International badminton tournament after registering a straight-game win over Ukraine’s Danylo Bosniuk here on Tuesday.

On a comeback trail, fifth-seeded India took just 36 minutes to get the better of Bosniuk 21-14 21-18 in his opening clash.

A former top-10 player, Prannoy, who gave a good account of himself before being stopped by 20-year-old Lakshya Sen in the quarterfinals of the India Open last week, will next meet compatriot Priyanshu Rajawat, who got a first round walkover from Rahul Yadav Chittaboina.

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However, the tournament was over for fourth seed Sameer Verma after he retired hurt against Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen.

Sameer was training 2-7 in the first game before he decided to concede the match due to a calf muscle injury, which he had sustained in October last year.

Subhankar Dey also conceded his match against compatriot Kartikey Gulshan Kumar due to an injury when he was trailing 2-9 in the opening game.

Among women, Ashmita Chaliha gave a first-round walkover to Malvika Bansod, while Aakarshi Kashyap defeated Mugdha Agrey 21-13 21-14 and Anupama Upadhyaya eased past Rituparna Das.

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Two-time Olympic medallist and top seed PV Sindhu will open her campaign against compatriot Tanya Hemanth on Wednesday, while London Games bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, seeded fourth, will test her fitness when she takes on Czech Republic’s Tereza Švábíková in the first round.