File photo of HS Prannoy© Instagram
Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy suffered a straight-game loss to Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long Angus in the quarterfinals to end country’s campaign at the Taipei Open Super 300 tournament on Friday. The world No. 9 Indian didn’t quite find his rhythm, going down 19-21 8-21 to fifth seed Ka Long in a lop-sided contest. Coming into the match with a 6-5 head-to-head record, third seed Prannoy matched his rival in the beginning but as the match wore on, he crumbled. Both the shuttlers didn’t yield much as they engaged in a tight game, leading to a close affair in the first part of the opening game.
After Ka Long made a service error, Prannoy grabbed a slender two-point lead at the break.
The Indian netted a shot and missed the line next as it was 12-12. Prannoy played some good-looking jump smashes to wriggle out of situations but the Hong Kong player kept himself in the hunt as lead kept changing hands till 19-19.
Ka Long then won a rally comprising parallel shots to grab a game point and converted it when Prannoy went long.
Ka Long continued the momentum in the second game, leading 7-2 at one stage. His returns were more precise and smashes had a little more sting as he troubled the Indian.
The Hong Kong player held a five-point cushion at the interval after a rally ended with Prannoy going to net. Things went downhill for the Indian there after as he made simple errors, while Ka Long was more alert and showed more initiative.
A weak return from Prannoy was disposed off quickly as Ka Long lead 17-8. Prannoy tried to up the pace only to falter at the net.
Eventually another backhand drive from Prannoy went to the net, handing 12 match points to the Hong Kong player, who converted it after the Indian made a judgement error at the backline.
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