Singapore: World No. 1 men’s singles player Kento Momota of Japan who survived a huge scare in his opening match of the Singapore Open against Sai Praneeth of India, before rallying to win 19-21, 21-14, 22-20 in 75 minutes on Wednesday, had a relatively easy passage in the second round as he eased past another Indian player H. S. Prannoy 21-11, 21-11 in 37 minutes.
“I came to Singapore from Malaysia with some dizziness, I was not feeling well and couldn’t believe I was able to beat Praneeth in the first round,” said Momota.
“I was tricked several times by Praneeth,” added Momota.
The Japanese player will take on his third Indian opponent of the tournament, the No. 6 seed Kidambi Srikanth on Friday.
“I am feeling much better today. Srikanth has a very strong defense, I will need to be fully prepared for the match,” said Momota after Wednesday’s match.
The men’s singles defending champion Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan also advanced to the quarter-finals by seeing off Jan Jorgensen of Denmark 21-18, 21-10 to set up his next meeting with Sameer Verma of India.
In women’s singles, World No. 1 Tai Tzu Ying who won the Malaysia Open title in Kuala Lumpur last week, dominated Chen Xiaoxin of China when she raced to a 7-0 lead to claim the first set 21-15.
In the second game, Tai took an early 5-1 and withstood a late rally from Chen to secure the win with 21-18.
“I felt much better today, and was able to find my rhythm quickly in the match,” said Tai who will face No. 7 seed Sung Ji-hyun of Korea on Friday.
