IMAGE: The world No. 35 HS Prannoy pulled off a stunning 8-21, 21-16, 23-21 win against the 18th-ranked Koki Watanabe. Photograph: BAI/X
Indian shuttler HS Prannoy saved five match points and clawed his way back from a game down to beat Japan’s Koki Watanabe in the opening round of the China Open Super 1000 badminton tournament in Changzhou on Tuesday.
The world No. 35 Prannoy pulled off a stunning 8-21, 21-16, 23-21 win against the 18th-ranked Watanabe.
It was a tough day for Lakshya Sen, whose poor run continued as he squandered a one-game advantage to suffer a 21-14, 22-24, 11-21 loss to China’s fifth seed Li Shi Feng.
“This point in my career, every win matters. I’m happy to be back on tour, small breaks happened here and there. The level of playing has gone really high and winning each round is getting tough day by day,” Prannoy said after the win.
“The average age has become 22- 23 in the men’s singles all of a sudden. Lot of fresh faces and you don’t really know what their game is. So, it’s tough to be a veteran out there,” he added.
In the opening game of his match, Prannoy, a former top-10 player and bronze medallist at the 2023 World Championships, was never in the contest as Watanabe closed it out with ease. But he bounced back in the second game, forcing a decider with sharper court coverage and better control.
Prannoy trailed 2-11 in the final game before picking up five points in a row to narrow the gap. Still, he found himself staring at defeat at 15-20, with Watanabe holding five match points.
But the Indian showed nerves of steel, saving five match points before taking a slender 21-20 lead and eventually sealing a memorable win.
It was a disappointing outing for Anupama Upadhyay in the women’s singles, as she exited in the opening round following a 23-21, 11-21, 10-21 loss to Chinese Taipei’s Lin Hsiang Ti.
The mixed doubles pairs of A Surya and A Pramuthesh and Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde too lost their opening round matches.
