Indian shuttler HS Prannoy signed off with another semifinal at the Indonesia Open Super 1000 badminton tournament after crashing into straight games against Chinese Zhao Jun Peng in Jakarta on Saturday. World No. 23 Prannoy couldn’t find his rhythm and lacked precision and control to lose 16-21 15-21 to Jun Peng, a two-time bronze medalist at the World Junior Championships, in a 40-minute final four-clash. It was their first meeting in international badminton. In his second semifinal at the Indonesia Open, Prannoy, who turns 30 next month, fell behind from the start as he was unable to keep up with his opponent in rallies.
The left-handed Chinese put a lot of power into his smashes and his hold-and-flick shots also caught Prannoy by surprise as he went into the first interval trailing 6-11 on two unforced errors.
The Indian seemed a little nervous as his net play wasn’t as polished and he also lacked his trademark shuttlecock control.
As a result, the Chinese kept his lead of five points to 14-9.
Prannoy looked briefly to set the pace in the rallies and narrowed the deficit to 14-16 with some good shots.
But the Indian let the momentum slip when another wide shot and long return took the Chinese to 19-15 and he took five game points with a crosscourt smash.
Prannoy saved one, but Jun Peng sealed it in the second chance to brag.
After the camp change, Prannoy started to build up the rallies better, revealing his pocket full of trickery to give a 6-4 lead. The joy was short-lived, however, as the Indian missed many opportunities.
He made a mistake in his shots that eventually went wide or into the net, couldn’t match his rival in the flat exchanges and also his weak returns were penalized by Jun Peng, who quickly turned the tables and went into the middle of the game with a four point lead. †
The Chinese looked full after the break, even as Prannoy struggled with his control and repeatedly sent the shuttle into the net.
promoted
Soon Jun Peng was leading 17-9 after the Indian lost a video reference. A quick flat exchange ended with the shuttle going to the net for the Chinese who made another unforced error to give Prannoy a glimmer of hope.
But another wide return gave the Chinese eight match points. Prannoy saved three before Jun Peng produced a precise down-the-line smash to his rival’s forehand back corner to make his first final of a world tour.
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