IMAGE: H S Prannoy got the better of Hong Kong’s Cheuk Yiu in the opening round of the Super 500 event. Photograph: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters
Returning to action after recovering from a back injury, star India shuttler H S Prannoy emerged as the lone Indian survivor at the Japan Masters, advancing to the second round after a gritty victory in Kumamoto on Wednesday.
The 31-year-old, who played with back pain en route to the Asian Games bronze medal in his last outing, outsmarted Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong 22-20, 19-21, 21-17 in 64 minutes in the first round of the Super 500 event.
Prannoy made a good start, taking a 11-6 lead at the first mid-game interval. Lee, however, clawed back at 14-14 but the Indian held fort despite relentless pressure to eventually seal the opening game by the narrowest of margins.
Prannoy took the momentum to the second game, zooming to 14-8 but the world No. 18 from Hong Kong drew parity at 17-17 and this time went the distance with Prannoy falling into a pool of errors.
The gritty Indian however did not let the reversal affect him as he recovered from 5-8 to lead 13-11 and then keep his nose ahead despite a fighting Lee to win the decider and the match.
Lakshya, Priyanshu out
Lakshya Sen, who won the Canada Open this year, and Orleans Masters winner Priyanshu Rajawat had a bad day in office as they bowed out of the tournament after falling short in their opening matches.
Sen, the world No. 17, couldn’t go past Japan’s Kodai Naraoka, losing 17-21, 10-21 to the world No. 5, while Rajawat lost 15-21, 12-21 to Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi.
The men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost their opening round matches on Tuesday.
