Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy scripted a fine comeback to defeat Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in the men’s singles quarterfinal clash to advance into the semifinals of the ongoing Malaysia Masters 2023 in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
Prannoy showed remarkable resilience, making a great comeback to clinch the match by 25-23, 18-21, and 21-13 in a marathon clash that lasted for 91 minutes. From the start of the match, both shuttlers put on a superb show of defence by taking points turn by turn; however, the India ace prevailed in the first game, 25-23.
In the second game, Prannoy slammed a brilliant cross-court smash to floor Nishimoto and level it at the start of the game. Nishimoto led the game at one point, 11-9, at the mid-game break. After trailing, Nishimoto took the second game 21-18 and forced a decider. At the start of the decider, the game was completely balanced as both shuttlers were tied at 4-4, but Prannoy moved to take a 7-4 lead.
With brilliant form and resilience, the Indian shuttler clinched the match by scores of 25-23, 18-21, and 21-13. World No. 9 Prannoy will lock horns with qualifier Christian Adinata of Indonesia. In the women’s singles match, PV Sindhu held her nerves and clinched the match against China’s Yi Man Zhang to advance into the semifinals with a hard-fought victory in the ongoing Malaysia Masters 2023.
Double Olympic medalist Sindhu defeated lower-ranked Zhang 21-16, 13-21, and 22-20 in a quarterfinal match that lasted for an hour and 14 minutes. Sindhu will face seventh seed and world number nine, Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, in the semifinals on Saturday.
On the other hand, in another men’s singles quarterfinal match, Kidambi Srikanth suffered a defeat against Indonesian qualifier Christian Adinata 21-16, 16-21, 11-21 in a match that lasted for 57 minutes in the quarterfinals to crash out of the tournament.