HYDERABAD: HS Prannoy went down fighting against Kodai Naraoka of Japan 12-21, 21-9, 17-21 in his first Group 'A' round robin match at the BWF World Tour Finals in Bangkok on Wednesday.
A little bit of patience towards the end of the third game could have helped Prannoy, but the Indian made consecutive unforced errors and surrendered the advantage to the young Japanese rival.
The loss may affect Prannoy's progress in this tournament as he will face Lu Guang Zu. The Chinese shuttler suffered a straight game loss against reigning champion Viktor Axelsen 13-21, 11-21 on Wednesday. If Prannoy loses to Guang Zu and Viktor beats Naraoka on Thursday, the Indian will be out of the tourney. Thursday's match against the Chinese opponent is a must-win tie for Prannoy.
From 17-17 in the decider, Prannoy made four errors to make it easy for Naraoka.
First he hit long and then after controlling the rally he smashed the bird into the net to make it 17-19. He looked tense at this juncture and hit one wide off the court. It was all over after another drop failed to cross the net.
"I thought I was in control for most of the game. Post 15, in three to four rallies I started rushing and that didn't work for me," Prannoy said at the mixed media zone, admitting that he made mistakes.
"Probably that was a bad strategy. I made errors, he did not score from the 12th point, I made mistakes," Prannoy added.
After losing the first game, the Indian was back into the contest by winning the second with a big margin.
In the decider too, Prannoy was good till he changed the courts. But once Naraoka erased a two-point deficit from 12-14, Prannoy lost the way.
"Definitely I should have been much more patient playing from the good side of the court. In that kind of situation confidence didn't come when the scoreline was pretty much equal in the third. I was doubting myself in a couple of areas," said Prannoy
Lack of match practice could also be the reason, he said. "Lack of match practice in the last few weeks probably made it a little bit uncomfortable in that scoreline. But I think I was playing really well, movements were good, defence was good. Against this kind of player you should be a little bit more patient to win matches," he said.
