Indonesia Open 2022: H.S. Prannoy crashes out as Indian challenge ends

The shuttler came close to winning the tournament after a sensational display.

Indonesia Open 2022 is almost at its end with the final matches set to take place on Sunday in the city of Jakarta. However, India’s representation at the prestigious tournament saw an end after H.S. Prannoy lost his semi-final clash in Men’s Singles category. The Indian athlete came up short against China’s Jun Peng Zhao who got the win by a 21-16, 21-15 score. 

This Super 1000 event sees the top badminton players from across the globe participate and fight for top honours. As far as Indian shuttlers and their performance at the event goes, then it was a disappointing display collectively. However, the biggest positive to take away from the tournament was the fight shown by H.S Prannoy in his category. He got the better of higher-ranked players on his way to the semi-final. 

Semi-final as it happened

Jun Peng Zhao began the semi-final in a good rhythm, racing into a 7-2 lead in the first game. At one point the Chinese player had an 11-6 advantage over Prannoy. As the match went on, the World No.38 player took the game comfortably by a 21-16 score. 

The second game was more even in the initial stages, with Prannoy looking to make a comeback in the tie. He led by 4-2 and then 6-4 at one point in the match before Jun Peng took over the contest yet again with his flawless display. Winning the majority of the points soon after, Zhao went into an 11-7 lead and closed the match eventually by winning the second game 21-15. It took him only 40 minutes to book a place in the final where top seed Viktor Axelsen is in waiting. 

A gritty performance

H.S. Prannoy has reasons to be proud of his performance at the Indonesia Open 2022. Despite falling short at the crucial stage, the Indian went the farthest from the whole contingent across all categories. He got the better of higher-ranked Lakshya Sen who was the favourite to win the opening tie between the compatriots. 

Later in the tournament, Prannoy also beat higher-ranked players, in particular NG Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong and Rasmus Gemke of Denmark. The manner of those wins was also impressive as Prannoy was in total control of those wins and had a lot of confidence. 

Focusing on the positives

The Indian contingent will come away from the Indonesia Open 2022 with a bitter taste. Particularly the performance in the singles category barring Prannoy’s heroics. Players like P.V. Sindhu, Kidambi Srikanth and Sai Praneeth all made their exits in the first round itself. They did not look ready for the occasion and H.S. Prannoy eventually was the most successful player as far as the singles category is concerned, which is India’s strong point.

Sameer Verma can also take away positives from the tournament who made it to the second round. There were not a lot of expectations from the doubles category with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty withdrawing before the tournament began. Ashwini Ponappa and N. Sikki Reddy (Women’s Doubles) reached the second round while Dhruv Kapila and M.R Arjun (Men’s Doubles) also achieved the same in their respective categories.  

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