Backed by a vociferous crowd, H. S. Prannoy navigated past a testing phase in the decider against a speedy Wang Tzu Wei for a place in his maiden quarterfinals of the India Open badminton in New Delhi on January 19.
In a tense third game, Prannoy bridged a 5-10 deficit to catch up at 14, surged ahead at 17-16 and converted a second match-point for a 21-17, 17-21, 21-19 triumph over the Chinese Taipei rival in 77 minutes.
The eighth seed now faces Chinese sixth seed Shi Yuqi in Saturday’s semifinals. A match that witnessed frequent exchanges of dribble, and flicks at the nets brought forth the shot-making skills of Prannoy to the fore.
