BWF World Tour Finals 2022: HS Prannoy lost the first group match to Kodai Naraoka of Japan

India's star shuttler HS Prannoy suffered a loss to Japan's Kodai Naraoka in his first group match of the BWF World Tour Finals 2022, in Bangkok, Thailand on Wednesday.

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The 30-year-old Indian, who was playing with a bandage on his right knee, made a provisional start to the match while Naroka played a quick game and put Prannoy ahead 11-6 at the break. Eventually, Naroka took advantage of Prannoy's lack of pace with back-and-forth placements to take a 1-0 lead. The world number 12 Indian made a comeback in the second game. In the second game, Prannoy fought his opponent by playing more at the net. The strategy helped them win seven points in a row after drawing 3-3 and then leveling the match at 1-1.

The Indian shuttler accelerated her attacks and took a 7-5 lead in the decider. However, Naroka's cross-court shots from the net helped them go into the break with an 11-9 lead. Despite not being able to take the lead, the Indian shuttler equalized three times after changing ends in the decider. However, after the game was tied 17–17 three unforced errors by Prannoy saw Kodai Naroka win the game and the match. However, he lost to Kodai 11-21, 21-9, 17-21 in an hour-long battle.

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Meanwhile, this is Prannoy's second straight defeat against Kodai. Earlier, he had also lost to Kodai at the Singapore Open in July this year. Prannoy's next group encounter will be against Lu Guang Zu of China on Thursday before facing off against Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in his final group match on Friday. Prannoy had lost to Zu at the French Open earlier this year. The top two players from the group will advance to the semi-finals of the BWF World Tour Finals 2022.