Indonesia Open 2022: HS Prannoy storms into semi-finals

HS Prannoy, India’s lone bright spot at the Indonesia Open 2022, has continued his impressive run as he stormed into the semi-finals of the competition with a straight-game win over world number 13 Rasmus Gemke of Denmark on Friday. The 29-year-old shuttler from Kerala, who was one of India’s star-performer’s during the Thomas Cup triumph last month, is looking to break his five-year title drought. Prannoy produced yet another impressive performance to outwit the Danish shuttler 21-14, 21-12 in 40 minutes. Going into the tie, both players had two victories each in their last head-to-head meetings. It is the second semi-final appearance for the 29-year-old Indian at the Indonesia event. 

Come on, what did you expect? ??@PRANNOYHSPRI gets past QF hurdle with ease as he beats ??’s Rasmus Gemke 21-14, 21-12 to enter the semifinals of #IndonesiaOpenSuper1000 ?

Well done champ, keep it up!#IndonesiaOpen2022#BWFWorldTour#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/tp6BZ2TVZp

— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) June 17, 2022

Prannoy had reached the last-four stage of the competition in the 2017 edition during which he had stunned former Olympic gold medalist Chen Long and Malaysian legend Lee Chong Wei on way to the semi-finals. Prannoy, who is ranked 23rd in the world, will next face China’s Zhao Jun Peng. The Indian shuttler dominated the exchanges against the Dane, whose mobility seemed to have been limited by an injury. Prannoy started the match brightly with six back-to-back points before Gemke could register himself on the scorecard.

Prannoy didn’t put a foot wrong as he played some angled cross court shots and reverse slices to good effect to maintain a healthy lead. Meanwhile the Dane produced some eye-catching shots in the second half of the opening game but the early momentum was enough to see Prannoy through.  Gemke came up with a much improved performance in the second game but the Indian waited for his opponent to make mistakes and worked his angles well to keep his nose in ahead. After the break, Gemke faded away and Prannoy wrapped up the match by taking eight straight points.