Asian Games 2023: Prannoy lost in semi-finals, got bronze medal

India’s star player HS Prannoy had to bear the brunt of his mistakes and settle for a bronze medal after losing in straight games in the men’s singles semi-final against defending All England champion Li Shifeng of China here on Friday. The world number seven Indian, playing with a slight back injury, suffered a 16-21, 9-21 defeat against world number eight Lee in 51 minutes due to making too many unforced errors.

This is India’s first medal in men’s singles in 41 years after Syed Modi’s bronze medal in 1982. Prannoy was also part of the Indian men’s team that won the silver medal last week. 31 year old Prannoy from Thiruvananthapuram gave a good fight to the Chinese player in the beginning. However, he fell behind in the middle of the first game due to making a lot of mistakes. He hit several shots outside in an attempt to score points.

Prannoy took a 3-1 lead but Lee leveled the score at 5-5. The Indian player made the score 8-5 with a smash but the Chinese player took advantage of his mistakes and managed to level the score at 10-10. At the time of the break, Prannoy had a slight lead of 11-10. Prannoy made the score 13-11 but after that his mistakes gave Lee a chance to make a comeback. Lee soon took a 17-14 lead which he extended to 19-15.

The Chinese player secured four game points with a point at the net and then won the first game with another net point. In the second game, Prannoy fell behind in the beginning. The Chinese player took an 8-4 lead and then led 11-6 at the break. Prannoy was not able to control his mistakes due to which Lee was getting easy points. The Chinese player took a lead of 19-9. He won 11 match points with returns on the line and then won the game and the match.

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