INDONESIA OPEN 2017 QF – Another Suprise from Prannoy

The spectators have witnessed the fall of many seeded players in the 2017 Indonesia Open, with the singles disciplines particularly vulnerable. Mens singles shuttler H.S. Prannoy of India (photo) gave another surprise, this time tackling another seed in China’s Chen Long.

By Naomi Indartiningrum, Badzine Correspondent live in Jakarta.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

Prannoy appeared aggressive and confident from the first game. He did not hesitate to attack Chen with fast smashes, taking the first game 21-18, although Chen Long was able to take the second 21-16.

However, the third game saw Chen Long lose 19-21 and in the process was Prannoy’s (world #25) first victory in three meetings over the Rio Olympic Gold medallist Chen Long.

“There is no special preparation against Chen Long. I think the winning key of today’s match is how I can be confident on the court. Surely today I am very happy to beat top players, “said Prannoy.

“I’ve played against Prannoy before, but he’s playing better and more patient than I am, but I’m still satisfied with today’s game,” Chen Long said after the match.

Prannoy will not be alone in the semifinals of Indonesia Open 2017 as his compatriot, Srikanth Kidambi, had already advanced to the next round.

Kidambi managed to overthrow the young player from Chinese Taipei, Wang Tzu Wei, in 2 straight games. Wang who was impressive in beating Lin Dan, was forced out of the tournament after making too many errors. The Indian world #22 later will face the remaining top seed, Son Wan Ho of Korea. Meanwhile, Prannoy progresses to challenge young Japanese player, Kazumasa Sakai.

New coach, new hope

The impressive performances of India’s mens singles players ca be attributed to the role of their new coach, Mulyo Handoyo, who is also a former coach of Taufik Hidayat.

After practicing for 6 months with Mulyo (photo), both Prannoy and Kidambi claimed there were many developments both in terms of technique, physical and mental sides of the players.

“Our new coach provides a lot of physical training so it makes us have a better performance during the game,” Prannoy said.

“The development of men’s singles in India is very good. Both the player and his parents have a very good commitment. They are willing to work hard for the best results. In the future, I will try to provide a portion of the exercise to improve the ability of players on a periodic basis.” Handoyo said.

Surprise back to continue on the Indonesia Open 2017. Not only 1, in quarterfinal, there are at least 4 seeds that must swallow defeat.

Doubles struggles

Takeshi Kamura / Keigo Sonoda once again had to recognize Zhang Nan / Liu Cheng’s superiority as Japan’s seeded players wer left behind from the beginning . The Chinese pair were aggressive in attack, and the 2016 Hong Kong Open champions Kamura / Sonoda committed too many unforced errors.

“The opponents played very well today while we were impatient and made many mistakes. It’s very difficult to defeat them because they have a very good attack, “said Sonoda

“After Fu Haifeng retired, I still focused on playing men’s doubles. Today I felt very comfortable from the beginning of the game. We were more focused on team compactness.” said Zhang Nan.

Another new pairing who managed to subvert the seed was Liu Yuchen and Tang Jinhua who ousted the 5th seeds, Chris Adcock / Gabrielle Adcock, 21-11 17-21 21-16.

“Today our opponents were playing better. The wind conditions in the arena are very strong but they could still control the game well. We are disappointed with this result but we will improve for the next tournament, Australian Open.” said Adcock.

Another European representative, Christinna Pedersen / Kamilla Rytter Juhl (photo), was also forced to recognise the merits of Chinese representatives, Chen Qingchen / Jia Yifan. In the previous 4 meetings, this young Chinese couple led the Danes 3-1, and continued in the same vein today.

The Danish pair performed well to take the first game, but in the next two, Pedersen / Juhl lost focus and were overwhelmed 21-17 21-11.

No Chinese Womens singles representatives

China failed to place its last remaining representative Sun Yu in the women’s singles semifinal. The 6th seed was forced out by the superiority of America Zhang Beiwen who has performed well in the past year.

“For me today the most important thing is to play patiently. You can see, I will start with the rally and if there is a chance, I will attack.” Zhang said

“I’m not surprised to beat Sun Yu, but I was surprised to enter the semi-finals. The opponent tomorrow [Sung Ji Hyun] will be very hard and I have never won against her.” Zhang added.

This result was Zhang Beiwen’s best effort at the Indonesia Open event and the runner up of the 2016 French Open has a great chance of winning the title after other seeds Tai Tzu Ying and Akane Yamaguchi have already been knocked out. Tai was beaten by Thai’s Nitchaon Jindapol (photo)

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