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It was a mixed day for the Indian shuttlers at the Malaysia Open 2023 in Kuala Lumpur on on Friday. Where the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty made it to the semi-finals after a stellar performance. And star shuttler HS Prannoy had to face defeat.
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Commonwealth Games gold medalists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated BWF World Tour Finals champions Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi in three games to storm into the semi-finals of the Malaysia Open 2023 Super 750 badminton tournament. The 7th seeded Indian pair defeated the Chinese team 17.21, 22.20, 21.9.They will now face Lian Wei Keng and Wang Chang China.
The only Indian men's doubles pair to win the French Open title went down in the first game but then bounced back to win two consecutive games to reach the semi-finals.
On the other hand, India's HS Prannoy suffered a three-game quarterfinal loss to world number 7 Kodai Naraoka of Japan. The 30-year-old Prannoy from Kerala went down 16-21 21-19 10-21 to 21-year-old Naraoka in a match that lasted 84 minutes. Naraoka looked faster and fitter than the Indian despite playing two long matches in the first round. It was Naraoka's third win in three meetings against Prannoy. He also defeated Prannoy in the Singapore Open and World Tour Finals last year.
Prannoy fired some quick winners and came back after falling behind in the opening game but the young rival was in control in the deciding game and the Indian made unforced errors pay the price. Naraoka, playing in this match after defeating home favorite second seed Li Zi Jia in 73 minutes and Ng Jae Yong in 72 minutes, made it difficult for Prannoy to collect points. After the opening game was tied 7-7, the Japanese player took a two-point lead at the break and kept the pressure on.
In the second game, Prannoy tried to engage his opponent in long rallies. It worked for a while as he opened up a 13-9 lead. But Naraoka took advantage of the Indian's mistakes to equalize with four straight points. Prannoy and Naraoka were tied at 18-18 but the Indian hit a well-timed cross court smash to earn two points. Then in a spectacular rally, the Japanese shot out and the match reached a deciding game. In the third game, Prannoy had some leg problems. Naraoka dominated the rallies after taking a 5-3 lead. And Prannoy was down five points before the break with errors of his line.
Mistakes by the Indian continued as Naraoka took a 14-6 lead. Prannoy looked tired and then squandered 12 match points and the Japanese player won the match.