India's campaign at the Japan Open 2022 badminton tournament came to an end on Friday after HS Prannoy lost to Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen in the men's singles quarter-finals.
Up against an in-form Chen, the fourth seed and bronze medallist from the BWF World Championships held last month, Prannoy put up a gritty fight but eventually lost 21-17, 15-21, 22-20 in a marathon clash that stretched for one hour and 21 minutes.
The 30-year-old Indian, who had ousted the 2021 world champion, Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, in the pre-quarters on Thursday, made a good start and raced to an 11-7 lead in the first game. However, world No. 6 Chen came back into the game after the break and went on to take the all-important lead.
The second game saw the world No. 18 Prannoy go on the offensive as Chen spent most of his time on the back foot. The Indian shuttler easily won the game and stretched the match into a decider.
The tide seemed to change again in game three, as Chen looked comfortably placed with a handy 11-5 lead at the break. Prannoy, though, came roaring back and managed to level the game at 20-all.
However, as the match entered its final phases, Prannoy's exertion was visible after the long struggle and unforced errors kept creeping into his game. Chen eventually edged out the decider 22-20 to secure his fourth win over Prannoy in seven head-to-head meetings.
Underwhelming Campaign for India
Besides Prannoy, Srikanth Kidambi and Lakshya Sen also competed in the men’s singles category. Kidambi won his first match against Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, but then lost against Kanta Tsuneyama. Sen, who recently won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022, lost in his first match against Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto.
Saina Nehwal was the only Indian shuttler to compete in the women’s singles category, but she could not make an impression as she lost 9-21, 17-21 in her first round match against her Japanese opponent, Akane Yamaguchi.
Both of India’s two men’s doubles pairs – KP Garaga-VG Panjala and Arjun MR-Dhruv Kapila, suffered defeats in their respective first round fixtures as well.
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