BWF World Tour Finals: HS Prannoy suffers defeat in 1st round against Kodai Naraoka of Japan
Dec 07, 2022
Bangkok [Thailand], December 7 : India's star shuttler HS Prannoy suffered defeat against Japanese badminton player Kodai Naraoka in the first round of the BWF World Tour Finals 2022 in Bangkok on Wednesday.
HS Prannoy, ranked 12th in the world, was defeated by world No. 14 Japanese shuttler 21-12, 9-21, 21-17 in a men's singles Group A match that lasted an hour.
HS Prannoy made a shaky start to the match due to a strapping on his right knee. Kodai Naraoka was faster and led Prannoy 11-6 at the half, as per the Olympics website.
Kodai Naraoka eventually seized the 1-0 lead by exploiting HS Prannoy's lack of movement with back-and-forth placements.
In the second game, HS Prannoy battled Kodai Naraoka by playing more at the net. The strategy enabled HS Prannoy to win seven points in a row after being tied at 3-3, and then level the match at 1-1.
The Indian badminton player increased his attacks and led the decisive set 7-5. However, Kodai Naraoka's cross-court shots from the net enabled him take an 11-9 lead into the half.
Despite not being able to seize the lead, Prannoy levelled three times in the decider. However, Kodai Naraoka won the game and match after Prannoy's three unforced errors after the game was level at 17-17.
This was HS Prannoy's second defeat at the hands of the 21-year-old Kodai Naraoka. The young Japanese shuttler defeated the Indian shuttler in three games in the quarter-finals of the Singapore Open 2022.
On Thursday, HS Prannoy will face world No. 17 Lu Guang Zu before facing Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in his last group encounter on Friday. The group's top two players will advance to the semi-finals.
