In the quarterfinals, HS Prannoy defeated Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia 21-16 21-23 22-20 despite suffering from severe back spasms.
In the men’s singles competition at the Asian Games, HS Prannoy persevered all the way to the quarterfinals, becoming the first Indian to do so in 41 years, while PV Sindhu’s day in the women’s singles competition on Thursday was over. Prannoy outplayed Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia 21-16 21-23 22-20 in the quarterfinals while wearing a belt under his shirt and playing with tape on his lower back, overcoming severe back spasm to guarantee India a second badminton medal at the current Games. Last Sunday, India took home silver in the men’s team championships.
Prannoy so put an end to India’s protracted wait for a men’s singles medal at the Asian Games, with Syed Modi taking home the first one—a bronze—at the 1982 event in New Delhi.
Due to a back ailment, the world championships bronze medalist was forced to withdraw from the team championships final as India lost to China 3–2 and had to settle for second place.
It has an effect on me. But that’s the way sports work. You can’t always give your all. But you must develop the ability to win matches even at 60% or 70%. The day I had to do it, I believe, was today, he remarked.
Prannoy experienced ecstasy, but Sindhu had to deal with the pain of not having won a medal for the first time in nine years after she was eliminated from the competition after losing to world No. 5 Chinese He Bingjiao in 47 minutes, 16-21, 12-21.
Prannoy showed his mental toughness by rallying from a 5-11 deficit to win the first game and then having two match chances in the second but letting them slip away.
However, Prannoy swiftly cleared the decks and battled back in the decisive game, saving two match points with his thunderous smashes and cunning plays to claim a fantastic triumph.
At the Badminton Asia Championships in Dubai, Prannoy had defeated Lee, a former All England Champion, but things didn’t go well for him there.
However, despite Lee’s length and long and wide shots, the Indian were able to come back from a six-point disadvantage at the half to win four game points. At the first opportunity, he scored.
In order to change the tempo of the rallies, Prannoy used his drops and deceptions. He led 7-4 before taking a two-point advantage into halftime. Before the Indian recovered the lead with three straight points and soon found himself within two points from a victory at 20-18, Lee fought his way to a 15-13 advantage.
Lee levelled the score at 22-21, but a few net cords fell in the Malaysian’s favour, giving him a game point. After Prannoy found the net, he forced a third-round match.
The third game started with Prannoy down 2-4. Then, as Lee led 7-4, he attempted to extend the rallies with deep throws, but he lacked the finishing touch, frequently hitting the net or going wide.
Lee made a limited number of unforced errors as the Indians led 11-10 at the half, but he once more orchestrated a comeback to pull even at 8-8.
After a lengthy rally, Prannoy increased its lead to 13-10 on a flawless net shot. He reached 15-13 after two powerful smashes on both sides. But Lee persisted in breathing down his neck, making the score 16-16.
Prannoy then requested a medical timeout for using magic spray after experiencing back pain.
After the match resumed, Lee picked up the tempo and began to draw away by hitting Prannoy’s backhand with a body smash and another smash.
At 18-19, a protracted rally started after which Lee produced a smash to earn two match points. Then Prannoy fired two precise cross shots to tie the score at 20. With another flawless smash, he earned one more match point.
The day before, two-time Olympian Sindhu, who had won bronze and silver medals at the 2014 Incheon and 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, respectively, failed to deliver against Bingjiao, whom she had defeated to win the bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.
Prannoy then requested a medical timeout for using magic spray after experiencing back pain.
After the match resumed, Lee picked up the tempo and began to draw away by hitting Prannoy’s backhand with a body smash and another smash.
At 18-19, a protracted rally started after which Lee produced a smash to earn two match points. Then Prannoy fired two precise cross shots to tie the score at 20. With another flawless smash, he earned one more match point.
The day before, two-time Olympian Sindhu, who had won bronze and silver medals at the 2014 Incheon and 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, respectively, failed to deliver against Bingjiao, whom she had defeated to win the bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.
The opening game began with both players trading points till it was six all until Bingjiao gained the lead with a score of 9-5.
As Bingjiao forced the Indian to run the entire court and secured the points with precise placements and smashes to easily win the first game in 23 minutes, Sindhu struggled with her court coverage.
The following game saw her struggle even more as Bingjiao seized a 5-1 lead.
The star Indian shuttler’s returns were short and Bingjiao made no mistake in closing out the points with pinpoint smashes.
Sindhu showed some fight initially in the second game to close the gap at 8-9 with four straight points before the Chinese’s took control of the game and raced to 12-8 lead.
