Prannoy beats top seed Jorgensen

 Sabi Hussain

New Delhi, MarCH 26

HS Prannoy created the biggest upset of the India Open when he outplayed top seed Jan O Jorgensen (18-21 21-14 21-14) to advance into the quarterfinals at the Siri Fort stadium. World No.4 Kidambi Srikanth defeated World No.15 Kento Momota (Japan) 21-12, 15-21, 21-15 but Parupalli Kashyap’s lost to Xue Song of China 21-17, 21-11. 

Meanwhile, Olympic champion Dan sailed into the quarters with a 21-13 21-16 win over Hu Yun of Hong Kong, while women’s top seed Saina got the better of reigning national champion Ruthvika Shivani 21-16 21-17.

Prannoy, who won the Vietnam Open and Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold in 2014, has had a meteoric rise in the last few months which catapulted him into the top 20. Having played extensively in both doubles and singles as a junior, Prannoy picked up an uncanny proficiency on his backhand in his teenage years. The Indian No. 3 is known for his determined attitude and a mean backhand. Prannoy feat promises to bring an even bigger spotlight on the youngster’s much-talked about shot.

The Kerala National Games gold medallist in the team event has improved considerably over the past few years, and his aggressive game has gotten even more lethal.

He put those aggressive strokes, eye-catching backhand smashes and delectable drop shots to perfection against Jorgensen to achieve his career’s biggest win in a Super Series event.

It has to be the biggest upset of the India Open as Jorgensen was clear favourite to reach the tournament final on Sunday against an expected rival, Lin Dan from China.

But Jorgensen struggled to find answers to his first-time opponent’s fast-paced game, well-disguised slices and punishing rallies. Though world champion Lin Dan and Saina Nehwal were playing on adjacent courts, the crowd was totally focused on the Prannoy-Jorgensen battle.

The World No.2 Jorgensen started off aggressively in the first game though Prannoy matched him point-for-point. Both the towering players were hitting the shuttle all over the court and tested each other’s capabilities.

Jorgensen pocketed the first game, but Prannoy made a strong comeback in the second and took advantage of the drift to which many players are trying to adjust.

The decider game saw some tense moments when Prannoy was leading 13-11. The chair umpire over-ruled the line-umpire’s judgment over a line-call thus awarding the point to the Dane. By the time Prannoy and chief national coach Gopichand realised what had happened, the Indian had run out of time to challenge the call.

Jorgensen won the next point, but he admitted that the “aggressive approach of the coach was a bit too much for him,” and he lost focus thereafter.  Prannoy saw his chance, and raced away to victory.

“Though I lost the point, I was determined to keep my focus on the game. The conditions were suitable for me and I was playing really fast as I knew Jorgensen doesn’t like my style of playing. Overall, it was a really good game and the incident did not bother me,” said 22-year-old, who is ranked No.17 in world.