Taipei Open: Prannoy loses in quarter-finals

Taipei: Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy suffered a straight-game loss to Hong Kong’s Ng Ka Long Angus in the quarterfinals to end country’s campaign at the Taipei Open Super 300 tournament here on Friday.

The world No. 9 Indian didn’t quite find his rhythm, going down 19-21 8-21 to fifth seed Ka Long in a lop-sided contest.

Coming into the match with a 6-5 head-to-head record, third seed Prannoy matched his rival in the beginning but as the match wore on, he crumbled.

Both the shuttlers didn’t yield much as they engaged in a tight game, leading to a close affair in the first part of the opening game.

After Ka Long made a service error, Prannoy grabbed a slender two-point lead at the break.

The Indian netted a shot and missed the line next as it was 12-12. Prannoy played some good-looking jump smashes to wriggle out of situations but the Hong Kong player kept himself in the hunt as lead kept changing hands till 19-19.

Ka Long then won a rally comprising parallel shots to grab a game point and converted it when Prannoy went long.

Ka Long continued the momentum in the second game, leading 7-2 at one stage. His returns were more precise and smashes had

a little more sting as he troubled the Indian.

The Hong Kong player held a five-point cushion at the interval after a rally ended with Prannoy going to net.

Things went downhill for the Indian there after as he made

simple errors.