PARIS: India’s experienced shuttler H S Prannoy is set to face his compatriot Lakshya Sen in the Round of 16 of the men’s singles event after he ousted Vietnam’s Le Duc Phat in the final group game in the ongoing Paris Olympics.
India’s number-one-ranked shuttler came from behind to seal his spot in the knockout stage following a 16-21, 21-11 and 21-12 victory over the Vietnamese shuttler.
Prannoy didn’t get off to an ideal start, with plenty of unforced errors leading to his downfall in the opening game. The Indian shuttler held the lead till Phat picked up a couple of points to bring the score level to 8-8.
The next phase of the first game completely went against Prannoy. He started to trail by 12-10 and pushed hard to make a comeback. Phat stayed vigilant and denied Prannoy any opportunity to make a comeback.
Prannoy’s resilience allowed him to reduce the deficit to a single point, but Phat raced to a 16-21 win in the first game.
In the second game, the dynamics of the fixture completely shifted after Prannoy made a roaring comeback to restore parity in the game.
He took an early lead and capitalised on it by extending it to 5-1. He maintained his four-point lead and gradually extended it as the game went on. Prannoy nailed the final pin by sealing the second game by 21-11.
The third and final game was a neck-to-neck affair between the two shuttlers. Prannoy maintained a slender lead, but Phat continued to breathe down the Indian shuttler’s neck. Eventually, Prannoy showed his class and raced to a 21-12 win to seal his date with Sen in the pre-quarter-finals. (ANI)