Analysis: HS Prannoy shines others disappoint at the Indonesia Open 2022
There were many negative and few positives from the tournament.
Indonesia Open 2022 is one of the most prestigious events on the BWF calendar. The recent edition took place over the past week in the city of Jakarta, Indonesia. It had top badminton players in the world participating and fighting for top honours. In the end, the fans got to witness mesmerising badminton action.
There were several Indian shuttlers at the Indonesia Open 2022 as well. There were a lot of hopes from the contingent, particularly from the singles bracket. With the famous Indian pair of Satwiksairaj Rankiredd and Chirag Shetty opting out, there were fewer expectations in doubles. By the conclusion of the tournament, only a few shuttlers from India managed to clear the first round and H.S. Prannoy was the sole player who could come from the tournament with his head held high.
On that note, here is a look at the Indian performance at the recently concluded Indonesia Open 2022 and what were the key takeaways from it:
Women’s Singles
There were big expectations on P.V. Sindhu’s shoulders. She reached the quarter-final at the Indonesia Masters in the run-up to this event. The two-time Olympic medallist was the seventh seed and one of the favourites. However, against all expectations, Sindhu lost her first-round tie to He Bing Jiao. The Chinese shuttler got the better of the Indian by a 21-14, 21-18 score.
Men’s Singles
H.S. Prannoy reached the semi-final of Indonesia Open in an incredible fashion. The World No.23 beat several higher-ranked players like Lakshya Sen, NG Ka Long, and Rasmus Gemke to make his way to the penultimate clash. Unfortunately, he fell to a lower-ranked player from China, which led to the end of his journey. Zhao Jun Peng beat Prannoy in straight games, thanks to a 21-16, 21-15 score.
Lakshya Sen was the favourite to reach the latter stages of the . But, the eighth seed fell to his countryman H.S Prannoy in the opening round by 21-10, 21-9. The manner of the defeat was particularly surprising after Sen reached the quarters at Indonesia Masters as well.
Kidambi Srikanth, who played a crucial role in helping India win the Thomas Cup 2022 also lost in the first round. Brice Leverdez of France beat the Indian shuttler by 23-21, 21-10 to eliminate him.
Sameer Verma had a win to savour in the first round against Thomas Rouxel of France. He lost the second-round tie to sixth seed Malaysian, Lee Zii Jia. Sai Praneeth, another big name in Men’s Singles lost in the first round as well. He succumbed to Hans-Kristian Vittinghus of Denmark in straight games by a 21-16, 21-19 score.
Men’s Doubles
While Dhruv Kapila and M.R.Arjun made it to the second round before elimination, Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy lost their first-round fixture of the Indonesia Open. The absence of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty was felt as they are India’s best hopes in Men’s Doubles category.
Women’s Doubles
Ashwini Ponappa and N. Sikki Reddy reached the second round but they came up against top seeds from China which led to an end to their campaign. Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan were too strong for the Indian pair and won the match comfortably by a 21-16, 21-13 score. Haritha Harinarayanan/Ashna Roy and Ashwini Bhatt/Shikha Gautam lost their first-round fixtures respectively.
Mixed Doubles
There was only one pair representing India in the Mixed Doubles category. The team comprising Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto lost their opening match to Chang Tak Ching and Ng Wing Yung of Hong Kong.
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