BWF World Tour Finals 2022: HS Prannoy's second consecutive defeat, out of the semi-final race

India's HS Prannoy crashed out of the semi-finals race at the BWF World Tour Finals 2022 on Thursday. Prannoy was defeated in his second Group A match in Bangkok.

Also read: BWF Player of the Year 2022: Manisha Ramadass earns the female para-badminton player of the year award

The Thomas Cup winner lost to Lu Guang Zu of China in a three-game match. The 30-year-old from Kerala had also lost to Lu Guang Tzu at the French Open earlier this year. However, he played brilliantly this time but lost by 21-23 21-17 19-21. The match between the two lasted for 84 minutes. Prannoy had earlier lost against Japan's Kodai Naraoka in his opening match. After losing two consecutive matches, Prannoy's chances of reaching the knockout have ended.

Both Prannoy and Lu made smooth starts but the Indian made a few unforced errors which allowed the Chinese to take a 6-4 lead. He maintained a two-point lead till the interval. After that, Prannoy dominated and leveled the scores at 14-14. Then he also took a two-point lead from 18-16. However, Lu soon equalized the score at 19-19. Prannoy also got a game point but he could not take advantage of it. The Indian player also saved two game points after this, but on the third game point, the Chinese player won the game.

The Indian player then took the lead at 14-12 and 18-13. Prannoy earned four game points and then won the second game to take the match to the decider. In the third game, Prannoy took a 6-3 lead but then committed unforced errors, taking advantage of which the Chinese player took a three-point lead at the interval. Lu leveled the score at 16-16 and later on the Chinese player's match point, Prannoy's shot went out.

Also read: Major Upcoming Badminton Tournaments

However, the world number 12 Indian will next take on world number one and Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen on Friday. Axelsen topped the group after beating Naraoka 21-5 21-15 in a one-sided match. The Danish player also defeated Lu Guang Zu in straight games on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Only two players from each group will make it to the knockout stage. In such a situation, apart from Axelsen from Group-A, either Naraoka or Lu will reach the semi-finals of the BWF World Tour Finals 2022.