China Open: Prannoy saves five match points to reach second round, Lakshya Sen exits

Indian shuttler HS Prannoy saved five match points and clawed his way back from a game down to beat Japan’s Koki Watanabe in the opening round of the China Open Super 1000 badminton tournament here on Tuesday.

The world No. 35 Prannoy pulled off a stunning 8-21, 21-16, 23-21 win against the 18th-ranked Watanabe.

It was a tough day for Lakshya Sen, whose poor run continued as he squandered a one-game advantage to suffer a 21-14, 22-24, 11-21 loss to China’s fifth seed Li Shi Feng.

“This point in my career, every win matters. I’m happy to be back on tour; small breaks happened here and there. The level of playing has gone high, and winning each round is getting tougher day by day,” Prannoy said after the win.

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“The average age has become 22- 23 in the men’s singles all of a sudden. A lot of fresh faces, and you don’t know what their game is. So, it’s tough to be a veteran out there,” he added.

In the opening game of his match, Prannoy, a former top-10 player and bronze medallist at the 2023 World Championships, was never in the contest as Watanabe closed it out with ease. But he bounced back in the second game, forcing a decider with sharper court coverage and better control.

Prannoy trailed 2-11 in the final game before picking up five points in a row to narrow the gap. Still, he found himself staring at defeat at 15-20, with Watanabe holding five match points.

But the Indian showed nerves of steel, saving five match points before taking a slender 21-20 lead and eventually sealing a memorable win.

It was a disappointing outing for Anupama Upadhyay in the women’s singles, as she exited in the opening round following a 23-21, 11-21, 10-21 loss to Chinese Taipei’s Lin Hsiang Ti.

The mixed doubles pairs of A Surya and A Pramuthesh and Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Gadde also lost their opening round matches.