The Indian was yet again heartbroken in the semi-finals as he lost a game advantage to fight against Ng Ka Long for an hour and four minutes at the Axiata Arena here.
Proceeding into the match with a 4-4 career record, Prannoy, who had defeated Ng Ka Long in the last three meetings, won the toss and picked a good team.
He looked to be in strong control in the first game but came back to haunt him as he struggled with his length and sunk into a pool of unforced errors after converting the end.
After a strong start in the opening game, Prannoy made two brilliant cross court jump smashes to take a 5-3 lead.
The Indian did not try to play at a breathtaking pace, but instead focused on building rallies and punishing weak returns with pitch-perfect placements. He had a four-point cushion at the break.
Ng Ka Long tried to use his smashes to collect points but he was guilty of missing some easy chances as Prannoy maintained a four-point lead till 17-13.
Prannoy conceded two points with two foul shots before prevailing in the parallel exchange and soon grabbed four game point opportunities. He missed the first one before closing out the opening game with another perfect placement at the baseline.
However, after a change of sides, Prannoy struggled to control the shuttle in rough conditions, while Ng Ka Long showed better execution to maintain a firm grip on the rallies. The result was a six-point advantage at the mid-game interval.
With errors piling up, Prannoy soon fell far behind and the Indian decided to let the second game go to save his energy for the decider.
In the third game, Prannoy once again looked to take control of the proceedings as he quickly established an 8–3 lead, but the Hong Kong player scripted a sensational recovery, winning eight of the next nine points, a crucial one. entered the gap together. Two-point lead.
Ng Ka Long equalized with Prannoy first and then punished the Indian’s weak return.
After changing ends for the last time, Prannoy tried to speed up the rallies but Ng Ka Long managed to take a 16-12 lead. The fact that Prannoy lasted at least three times as long added to his anguish.
He met the turnaround hopes with the help of two body smashes to limit the lead to 16-17, but a relentless Ng Ka Long won a long rally and then grabbed three match points when the Indian made a net error.
He transformed it with a delightful block and jumped into the celebration.
No comments:
Post a Comment