Malaysia Masters 2022: Prannoy in semis; Sindhu loes to Tai Tzu again

Kuala Lumpur: A fighting HS Prannoy edged out Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama to progress to the semifinals but two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu couldn’t find a way to get past her nemesis Tai Tzu Ying at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament here on Friday. Prannoy, a former top 10 player, continued his consistent run as […]

Kuala Lumpur: A fighting HS Prannoy edged out Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama to progress to the semifinals but two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu couldn’t find a way to get past her nemesis Tai Tzu Ying at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament here on Friday.

Prannoy, a former top 10 player, continued his consistent run as he weathered the storm against world number 14 Tsuneyama to emerge victories 25-23,22-20 in the 60-minute quarterfinal clash, which ebbed and flowed throughout.

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One of the heroes of India’s monumental Thomas Cup win in May, Prannoy will face Hong Kong’s NG Ka Long Angus, seeded 8th, in the last four. A week after being outwitted by Tai Tzu Ying at Malaysia Open, seventh seed Sindhu once again fell short against the world No. 2 Taiwanese, losing 13-21 21-12 12-21 in a 55-minute contest.

It was Sindhu’s 17th career defeat to the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist, who has prevailed over the Indian in all their last seven meetings. The last time Sindhu had defeated Tzu Ying was en route to her 2019 World Championship gold in Basel, Switzerland.

The men’s singles contest turned out to be a game of cat and mouse as the two highly-skilled players engaged in a battle of one-upmanship, with Prannoy showing better nerves as he saved game points twice to come up trumps against Tsuneyama.

Prannoy, who enjoyed a 2-1 head-to-head count, pounced on the chances early on to erase a slender 1-2 deficit, but the match was a tight affair as the duo moved from 3-3 to 10-10 following some short but attacking rallies in the opening game. Tsuneyama produced some stiff angled returns and jump smashes to trouble his opponent, while Prannoy constructed his rallies well and kept the shuttle close to the line.