Prannoy beats Bin in a thriller

In a tense contest that saw both players fight tooth and nail, the Chinese player took the lead after winning the first game 21-17. The world No 21 came back strongly in the second, as the momentum kept shifting from one player to the other. 

The game was stretched into the tie-breaker after Qiao fended off five game points to stretch Prannoy. The Indian though kept his cool and took the game 22-20 to take the tie into the third game. 

Qiao put Prannoy under pressure in the third game with five consecutive points soon after the change of ends to take an 18-13 lead. Prannoy though took the fight to Qiao and made a dramatic comeback to take the game 21-19 and progress to the second round. 

Earlier, India’s campaign in the men’s doubles came to an early end with 23rd-ranked Attri and Reddy’s 19-21, 21-10, 18-21 loss in 47 minutes to their English opponents, who qualified for the main draw through the qualifying tournament.