HS Prannoy stuns world no.2 Kento Momota to reach pre-quarters in BWF World Championships 2022

Ace Indian shuttler HS Prannoy produced one of his best performances in recent times to stun world no.2 Kento Momota in straight games at the ongoing BWF World Championships 2022 on Wednesday (August 24). Prannoy did little wrong in what was a spirited display from the world no.18 against the two-time world champion.

Prannoy was far from the favourite ahead of the clash against the Japanese, who was among the major gold medal contenders at the World Championships this year. However, the Indian ace staged a massive upset in the men’s singles Round of 32 clash between the duo in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Prannoy defeated Momota 21-17, 21-17 in straight games in a contest which lasted 54 minutes. The Indian looked in sublime control right from the start against the two-time World Championships gold medallist and managed to outclass him comfortably at the end.

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Prannoy was clinical with his smashes and made clever use of the width to keep the Japanese star guessing. He also countered Momota’s long rallies with precision and was on top of his game throughout the all-important clash. After clinching the first game 21-17, Prannoy was made to work harder in the second game but was at his resilient best to pull through.

He was on level at 4-4 when Momota looked like he could stage a fightback but the Indian was relentless as he took a 5-point lead with the score reading 11-6 at the interval in the second game. Momota looked down and Prannoy capitalised perfectly by bagging the game by the same margin as the first one to progress to the pre-quarterfinals.

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Prannoy will take on his Indian compatriot Lakshya Sen in the pre-quarters leaving only one of them in the race for the final. Sen defeated Spain’s Luis Penalver in his Round of 32 clash earlier in the day to make it to the pre-quarters where he will be up against an in-form Pronnoy.

Prannoy and Sen are the only remaining challengers in men’s singles at the World Championships this year after Sai Pranneth and the experienced Kidambi Srikanth both crashed out of the tournament with losses in the 1st and 2nd round respectively.