Japan Masters 2023: Indian Challenge Ends As HS Prannoy Goes Down Fighting In Second Round

Kumamoto (Japan), November 16: Indian challenge at the Japan Masters 2023 ended on Thursday (November 16) after HS Prannoy went down fighting in the men's singles competition at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium in Kumamoto, Japan.

The seventh seeded Prannoy, who was the lone Indian left in the inaugural Japan Masters tournament, suffered a 21-19, 16-21, 19-21 loss to Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen in an hour and 13 minutes on court 4.

Prannoy, who made a winning return from an injury lay-off, took the tightly contested first game, but the Chinese Taipei shuttler fought back to win the second game and forced the decider.

In the third and final game, Chenraced to a 12-4 lead, but Prannoy produced his trademark fightback to slowly and steadily draw parity at 19-19. Chen, however, recovered in the nick of time to win the decider 21-19 and pocket the match.

Prannoy's exit meant the Indian challenge ended as Lakshya Sen, Priyanshu Rajawat and doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out in the opening round of their respective matches.

Earlier on Wednesday (November 15), Asian Games bronze medallist Prannoy secured a fighting win over Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu by a scoreline of 22-20, 19-21, 21-17 in an hour and 4 minutes, on his return to action after recovering from a back injury.

Sen suffered straight games loss against fourth seed Kodai Naraoka of Japan by a scoreline of 17-21, 10-21 in 45 minutes, while Rajawat lost to Lin Chun-yi of Chinese Taipei by a scoreline of 15-21, 12-21 in 32 minutes.

Earlier on Tuesday (November 14), India's top doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty suffered a first round exit after they lost to Chinese Taipei's Lu Ching Yao and Yang Po Han in three games 21-16, 18-21, 16-21 in an hour and 3 minutes.

Prannoy, Sen, Rajawat and Satwik-Chirag pair will next be in action alongside more Indian shuttlers in the China Masters 2023, which is scheduled to take place from November 21 to November 26.