India’s last hope of clinching a podium finish at the ongoing Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament were dashed on Saturday as HS Prannoy crashed out of the semifinals, following a 21-17, 9-21, 21-17 loss to NG Ka Long Angus.
Prannoy was the last remaining Indian shuttler in the tournament after PV Sindhu bowed out in the quarterfinals on Friday following a loss at the hands of Tai Tzu Ying.
The 29-year-old Prannoy from Delhi had an impressive run up until the semifinal stage, but his long wait of five years since he last won a major badminton event looks to continue.
It was heartbreak once again in the semifinals for the Indian as he squandered a one-game advantage to go down 21-17 9-21 17-21 against NG Ka Long after battling for an hour and four minutes at the Axiata Arena.
READ| Malaysia Masters: HS Prannoy storms into the semi-finals, PV Sindhu loses in quarterfinals
Heading into the match with a 4-4 career record, Prannoy, who had defeated Ng Ka Long in the last three meetings, picked the good side after winning the toss.
It seemed to come back to haunt him as he looked in firm control in the first game but struggled with his length and drowned in a pool of unforced errors after changing ends.
Earlier, PV Sindhu, seventh in the badminton world rankings, lost to world No. 2 Tai Tzu of Chinese Taipei 13-21, 21-12, 12-21 in 55 minutes.
This was Sindhu’s seventh straight loss to Tai Tzu and 17th defeat in 22 matches. The two-time Olympic medallist had lost to Tai Tzu in the Tokyo 2020 semifinals and also at the Malaysia Open quarterfinals last week.
With inputs from PTI
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