China Open: HS Prannoy saves 5 match points to beat world no. 18, Lakshya Sen makes early exit | Badminton News – Times of India

The Indian shuttler HS Prannoy organized a remarkable comeback to beat the Japanese Koki Watanabe in the opening round of the China Open Super 1000 Badminton Tournament in Changzhou on Tuesday and saved five match points to win 8-21, 21-16, 23-21.The World No. 35 Prannoy showed an exceptional resilience against the 18th ranked Watanabe, especially in the last match where he encountered several match points.Lakshya Sen suffered a disappointing loss for the fifth seed of China li Shi Feng, lost 21-14, 22-24, 11-21 after obtaining an early benefit.“This point in my career, every victory is important. I am happy that I am on tour again, small breaks have happened here and there. The level of playing has become really high and winning every round becomes difficult every day,” said Prannoy after his victory.“The average age has become 22-23 in the Singles for men suddenly. Many new faces and you don’t really know what their game is. So it’s hard to be a veteran,” he added.

Prannoy, a former top 10 player and bronze medal winner at the World Championships 2023, struggled in the opening game while Watanabe dominated. However, he recovered in the second match with improved coverage and control of the court.Prannoy saw the last match 2-11 haunting before mounting a comeback and won five consecutive points. Despite the fact that he was confronted with match points at 15-20, he showed exceptional calmness to save all five and secure a 23-21 victory.In other matches, Anupama Upadhyay lost the opening round of her ladies singles for the match of the Chinese Taipei’s Lin Hshanang Ti with scores of 23-21, 11-21, 10-21.The tournament also saw early outputs for Indian mixed double pairs. A Surya and a Pramuthsh, together with Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika, were eliminated in their opening round competitions.