Fourth ranked Prannoy gave a tough fight but couldn’t stop the in-form Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu Hsien from winning the quarterfinal encounter. (Source: File)
HS Prannoy and Sourabh Verma lost their respective quarterfinal matches in the men’s singles of the New Zealand Grand Prix Gold event in Auckland. This also marked an end to India’s campaign in the event.
Fourth ranked Prannoy gave a tough fight but couldn’t stop the in-form 11th seeded Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu Hsien from winning a thrilling encounter in three games 10-21, 22-20 and 21-23. The match lasted for an hour and six minutes. On the other hand, seventh seed Verma lost to unseeded Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong 19-21, 16-21 in straight games.
Prannoy and Hsein were levelled at 8-8 in the first game but Hsein managed to grab three quick points and was leading by 11-10 at the interval. After the break, the fortunes shifted when Hsein continued to win 10 successive points, sealing the opening game 21-10.
In the second game, Prannoy and Hsein were levelled at 5-5 but Prannoy managed to grab a five point lead, taking his score to 13-8. The Taipei shuttler didn’t lose his hope and fought back in the game, levelling with Prannoy at 17-17.
Taking three consecutive points, Hsein was a point away from victory after making it 20-18 before Prannoy caught him at 20-20. Prannoy, at last, held on to his nerves, winning the next two points and pushed the match to the decider.
Both the shuttlers gave their best in the deciding game and the match reached a crucial stage as both were tied at 20-20 and then 21-21 but finally it was Hsein who managed to earn two crucial points to advance to the semifinals.
Meanwhile, Verma lost the plot at the break, trailing 6-11. After the interval, Lee didn’t provide any margin for error and continued to stretch his lead to 14-8 but Verma somehow managed to make it 12-14. Both shuttlers went neck-and-neck till 18-18, but at last, Lee had the last laugh, winning the game 21-19.
In the second game, Lee again took an 11-6 lead and from there on, Verma couldn’t make a comeback as the Hong Kong shuttler went on to register an easy win, winning the second game 21-16.
