Top seed Jan O Jorgensen withered under a fiery assault from home hope HS Prannoy in the 
Men’s Singles second round at the Yonex-Sunrise India Open today.
The All England finalist from Denmark, who was one of the favourites for the title, lost his way after a strong opening game. Flustered by the drift and the relentless attack of Prannoy, Jorgensen saw the match slip from his grasp, 18-21 21-14 21-14.
It was another excellent day for the hosts in Men’s Singles, with three quarter-finalists. China Open champion Kidambi Srikanth avenged his All England loss to Japan’s Kento Momota, while RMV Gurusaidutt fought past compatriot Sameer Verma.
But the star of the day was Prannoy, who turned in a muscular performance full of jump 
smashes that Jorgensen wasn’t quite able to parry. The Dane appeared on course through the first game, but Prannoy was unyielding in his attack.
The Indian had a 9-3 lead in the decider but Jorgensen fought back in typical dogged fashion to level at 13, before losing the momentum once again. A line call over-rule by the umpire caused Prannoy’s coach Gopichand to remonstrate, and that seemed to affect the Dane.
“It was too aggressive for my liking,” said Jorgensen.
“That isn’t my style. Prannoy played very well, full credit to him. It was an intense game. The drift was strong and I couldn’t control the match.”
Prannoy acknowledged that this could well be his breakthrough moment.
“Beating the world No.2 gives you a lot of confidence. This is an Olympic qualifying year and you have to be at your best. I didn’t plan much for today’s match. I’d beaten him at the Japan Open (in 2013) and I wasn’t tense today. He doesn’t like my style. The conditions were good and I took my chances. Practice has been rigorous. The two weeks after the All England were intense. I have played well the last six months.”
Prannoy will face Jorgensen’s compatriot Viktor Axelsen in the quarter-finals; the Dane eased past Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu Hsien 21-10 21-12. The other quarter-final match-ups feature Lin Dan (China) versus Tommy Sugiarto (Indonesia); Gurusaidutt against Xue Song (China) and Takuma Ueda (Japan) against Srikanth. Ueda stopped No.7 seed Wang Zhengming (China) 21-16 21-19, while Xue had lesser trouble than he probably anticipated against Parupalli Kashyap (India), 21-17 21-11.
In Women’s Singles, Nozomi Okuhara (Japan) set up an interesting quarter-final battle with All England champion Carolina Marin (Spain); former champion Ratchanok Intanon will battle against Yao Xue (China), who nixed the hopes of No.5 seed Minatsu Mitani (Japan), 21-15 21-10. Indonesia’s Hana Ramadhini earned a place against local star Saina Nehwal after a three-game win over Chinese Taipei’s Pai Yu Po.
Men’s Doubles second seeds Hiroyuki Endo/Kenichi Hayakawa struggled past Korea’s Choi Solgyu/Kim Duck Young, 21-17 15-21 21-18. However, other strong pairs such as top seeds Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen (Denmark), Chai Biao/Hong Wei and Liu Xiaolong/Qiu Zihan (both China) progressed in straight games.
China were expected to dominate Women’s Doubles, and they have so far. Second seeds Luo Ying/Luo Yu held off the challenge of Japan’s Naoko Fukuman/Kurumi Yonao (21-16 21-19) and take on compatriots Ou Dongni/Yu Xiaohan, while Bao Yixin/Tang Jinhua face Korea’s Chang Ye Na/Yoo Hae Won in the quarter-finals.
Mixed Doubles defending champions Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen (Denmark) enjoyed a quick win over Germany’s Michael Fuchs/Isabel Herttrich to join compatriots Mads Pieler Kolding/Kamilla Rytter Juhl in the last-eight. Singapore’s Chayut Triyachart/Shinta Mulia Sari and Indonesia’s Edi Subaktiar/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja both survived stiff tests and face off for a place in the semi-finals.
For day’s results, click here.
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