HS Prannoy and other Indian shuttlers knocked in Australian Open

NEW DELHI: HS Prannoy, India's highest-ranked singles player, suffered a defeat against Japan's Kodai Naraoka, ranked above him, with scores of 19-21 and 13-21 in the Australian Open Super 500 tournament on Friday.
Prannoy's loss marked the end of the road for all Indian shuttlers in the quarterfinals. Sameer Verma in singles, Sikki Reddy and B Sumeeth Reddy in mixed doubles, and Aakarshi Kashyap in women's singles also faced defeats on the same day.

In the first game, Prannoy staged a comeback from a 10-16 deficit to level the score at 18-18 and even took a one-point lead. However, Naraoka maintained his composure to clinch the game.
The second game saw Naraoka dominate from the 5-5 mark onwards, leaving Prannoy with no opportunity for a comeback. The match concluded in just over an hour, with Naraoka emerging victorious.
Verma, who had recently upset former world No. 1 Loh Kean Yew, was outclassed by his Chinese Taipei opponent Lin Chun-Yi, ranked 17th in the world. Lin secured a comfortable 21-12, 21-13 victory in a mere 38 minutes.
The eighth-seeded husband-wife pair of Summeth and Sikki faced a formidable challenge against the top-seeded duo of Jian Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin in the mixed doubles. The top seeds required only about 30 minutes to claim a straightforward 21-12, 21-14 win.
In the women's singles, eighth seed Aakarshi was defeated by Chinese Taipei's Yu Po Pai with scores of 21-17 and 21-12 in a 42-minute encounter.