Indian shuttler HS Prannoy gave his all but it was not to be as the World No. 31 went down fighting in the first round of the Korea Open Superseries in Seoul on Wednesday. Prannoy took a one-game lead only to see the 39th ranked Chinese Taipei player Wang Tzu Wei come back for a 21-23, 21-17, 21-15 win. The match lasted 57 minutes as the Indian exited from the tournament.
Prannoy and Wang have always had gritty duels. Both times they played prior to this meeting, their matches went the distance. This time too, there was no exception.
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A great start to the game by Prannoy
Prannoy made a spectacular comeback in the opener, saving a game point after surviving some early aggressive play from his Chinese Taipei rival. Wang had the game in his grip till the mid-game interval at which point he had built a massive 11-4 lead.
But the Indian came back refreshed and rejuvenated after the break to cut down on the deficit. Giving ample examples of his tactical acumen, he first evened the score at 15-15 and then saved a game point at 19-20 to eke out the first game, 23-21.
Wang storms back
In the hard-fought second game, Prannoy showed some masterful strokeplay to have a slim lead of 11-9 at half-time and maintained it till 16-14. However, the Indian shuttler could not contain the aggressive Wang after that as he came storming back to grab the second game 21-17.
In the third game, Prannoy had the early proceedings under control and even had a four-point lead at 9-5. But just like the previous game, he failed to withstand the barrage under tremendous pressure.
Wang snatched the lead at 15-13 and then from 17-15 onwards, it was completely one-way traffic as the irrepressible Chinese Taipei shuttler pocketed the next four points for the win.
Other representatives for India at the Korea Open
The 2016 Korea Open Superseries has all of India’s top male shuttlers playing in it. Apart from Prannoy, the others who secured a direct entry into the main draw are Kidambi Srikanth, Ajay Jayaram and B Sai Praneeth. Parupalli Kashyap produced a brilliant effort on Tuesday to qualify for this tournament.
The women’s singles draw has World No. 73 Tanvi Lad as India’s solo entrant. And the remaining players will hope for a longer stay in the tournament.
