India’s Thomas Cup hero HS Prannoy and the men’s doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila were similarly ejected from the Singapore Open despite winning the opening game.
Prannoy lost to Kodai Naroka of Japan 21-12, 14-21, 18-21 in the quarterfinals. While the men’s doubles unit lost 21-10, 18-21, 17-21 to Indonesian pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan.
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Prannoy got off to a brisk start and dominated the first game as he never took the lead, but once Naroka momentarily leveled at 4-all. But, it would be the last time in the game that the Japanese shuttler got close to Prannoy as the Indian got away with 21 points.
But, things changed in the second game as Prannoy could not take his advantage despite going a point or two ahead in the second game. By the time the score was leveled at 8-all, Naroka went on a streak to give herself some breathing room and won the second game to set up the third game decider.
In the third game, Prannoy’s Japanese opponent looked comfortable as he never surrendered the early lead that he had managed to establish. Naroka won the game and as a result won the match.
Things looked fairly similar on the adjacent court as the Indian pair won only the following two games in the opening game.
The Indian team had defeated the Indonesian team in the opening game as they looked set for victory. Arjun and Kapila were looking very good and they lifted the first game with ease.
But, the opposition pair of Ahsan and Setiawan regrouped and were out for the second game with a new strategy. In a thrilling second game, which saw several hands of lead exchange, the Indonesian pair did enough to finish before the Indians were pushed to deuces.
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It all came down to the third set, which was also a gritty affair. But, again, the Indonesian pair ditched deep and took the win and reconciled the fixture within just 50 minutes.
Earlier, Indian legend Saina Nehwal succumbed to suffering 13-21, 21-15, 20-22 over Japan’s Aya Ohori.
PV Sindhu remains the only Indian hope in the tournament after reaching the semi-finals by defeating Han Yu of China 17-21, 21-11, 21-19.
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