All England: Lakshya enters quarters, Prannoy crashes out

Birmingham, Mar 18 (PTI): India’s Lakshya Sen progressed to the quarter-finals of the All England Badminton Championships in Birmingham on Thursday, but compatriot HS Prannoy crashed out in the second round. Lakshya, 19, outclassed France’s Thomas Rouxel 21-18, 21- 17 in the second round, but Prannoy was knocked out 21-15, 21-14 by World No 1 Kento Momota. The mixed doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponappa crashed out in the second round as they were beaten by Japan’s Yuki Kaneko and Misaki Matsutomo 21-19, 21-9. The match proved to be a one-sided affair as the Japanese duo triumphed over the Indian duo in just 35 minutes. Saina Nehwal had exited the event on Wednesday after retiring hurt in the first round match against Danish badminton player Mia Blichfeldt. The Indian was trailing 8-21, 4-10 when she decided to quit with injury. PV Sindhu had also cruised to the second round with an easy 21-11, 21-17 win over Malaysia’s Soniia Cheah in 39 minutes. The men’s doubles pair of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankirerddy also progressed to the next round.