HS Prannoy was completely outplayed by Kodai Naraoka in the quarterfinal match that lasted 43 minutes in China Masters
HS Prannoy bowed out from the ongoing China Masters 2023 after losing in the quarterfinal. The World No.8 went down in straight games 9-21, 14-21 against World No.5 Kodai Naraoka on Friday, 24th November.
The 31-year old Indian was completely outplayed in the match that lasted 43 minutes. The eighth seed looked far from the best as Naraoka dominated the contest right from the start.
Also Read: China Masters 2023: Chirag-Satwik continue dominance, storm into semis
Prannoy entered the interval trailing 5-11. Naraoka’s dominance continued after the interval as he took a big lead. Prannoy could add only four more points and lost the game 9-21.
In the second game, Prannoy gave some fight. It was a neck-to-neck battle right from the start and scores were level 10-10. Naraoka won the next point to enter the interval with a slender one-point lead.
Prannoy went on to level the scores 12-12. However, Naraoka did not let the Indians take advantage and went on to bag the next three points. Prannoy soon lost the momentum and Naraoka went on to take the scores to 19-13 and closed out the contest.
With Prannoy’s loss, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are the only remaining Indians in the tournament. The top-seeded pair will next face China’s He Jiting and Ren Xiangyu in the semifinal on Saturday.
