India’s last hope of bagging a medal at the Indonesia Open 2022 were dashed as HS Prannoy exited the competition in the semi-final stage after his loss to China’s Zhao Jun Peng.
India’s last hope of bagging a medal at the Indonesia Open 2022 were dashed as HS Prannoy exited the competition in the semi-final stage after his loss to China’s Zhao Jun Peng in straight sets. The scoreboard read 16-21, 15-21. The Indian enjoyed a stellar run to the last-4 stage and entered the match with a straight-game win over world number 13 Rasmus Gemke of Denmark. But Jun Peng dashed Prannoy’s hopes of reaching his maiden final at the Indonesia Open. Prannoy didn’t have a great day in the office and his error-prone performance in the semi-final marked the end of Indian shuttlers in the tournament. The likes of PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth among others had already crashed out in the early rounds.
Jun Peng pocketed the match in just 40-minutes. It was their first meeting in international badminton. The 29-year-old Indian fell behind from the start as he couldn’t keep pace with his opponent in rallies. The Chinese southpaw’s powerful smashes were too hot for Prannoy to handle and he entered the first interval lagging 6-11. The Chinese maintained his five-point lead till 14-9. Although some good strokes helped Prannoy to reduce the deficit to 14-16, Jun Peng was too good on the day to pocket the first game. After the change of ends, Prannoy took a slender 6-4 lead but some unforced errors allowed Jun Peng to regain control of the match. Soon Jun Peng was up 17-9 and he continued his dominance to take eight match points. Though Prannoy saved three, Jun Peng produced a precise down-head smash to make his first final of a world tour event.
The 2022 Indonesia Open will commence on June 14 and end on June 19.
Viktor Axelsen beat Lee Zii Jia 19-21, 21-11, 23-21
Zhao Juan Peng beat HS Prannoy 21-16, 21-15
Viktor Axelsen vs Zhao Juan Peng
Wang Zhi Yi beat He Bing Jiao 21-15, 21-10
Tai Tzu Ying beat Chen Yu Fei 10-21, 26-24, 21-12
Wang Zhi Yi vs Tai Tzu Ying
Choi Sol Gyu/ Kim Won Ho beat Kim Astrup/ Anders Skaarup Ramussen 13-21, 21-12, 21-18
Liu Yu Chen/ Ou Xuan Yi beat Aaron Chia/ Soh Wooi Yik 21-18, 21-13
Choi Sol Gyu/ Kim Won Ho vs Liu Yu Chen/ Ou Xuan Yi
Nami Matsuyama/ Chiharu Shida beat J Kititharakul/ Rawinds Prajongjai 21-15, 21-14
Yuki Fukushima/ Sayaka Hirota beat Lee So Hee/ Shin Seung Chan 9-21, 21-14, 21-18
Nami Matsuyama/ Chiharu Shida vs Yuki Fukushima/ Sayaka Hirota
Yuta Watanabe/ Arisa Higashino beat Seo Seung Jae/ Chase Yu Jung 21-18, 17-21, 21-15
Zheng Si Wei/ Huang Ya Qiong beat Wang Yi Lyu/ Huang Dong Ping 21-6, 21-14
Yuta Watanabe/ Arisa Higashino vs Zheng Si Wei/ Huang Ya Qiong
The event will not be televised on a TV channel in India until the quarterfinals. Sports 18-1 will show the matches live beginning in the quarterfinal round. Besides, fans can watch the action on BWF’s official YouTube channel ‘BWF TV’. Live streaming can be done on VOOTSelect.