BWF World Tour Finals: HS Prannoy loses in the first match of the group stage against Kodai Naraoka

The lone Indian entrant at the BWF World Tour Finals showed great fighting spirit to bounce back from one game down to force the match into the decider but faltered due to three unforced errors after an hour-long clash.

Naraoka began the match aggressively and raced to a quick 6-3 lead. Prannoy fought back to narrow the lead to just one point, but his Japanese opponent regained control of the game to go into the break with an 11-6 lead.

The 21-year-old Japanese shuttler launched a few quick angled returns before eventually claiming the opening game 11-21 with a powerful straight smash.

Prannoy roared back in the second game and forced Naraoka into errors by keeping the shuttle in the backcourt. He went into the break with a comfortable 11-5 lead and took complete control to win the second game 21-9, forcing the match into a decider.

Both players were evenly matched until 8-8 in the third game. Naraoka went into the break with a two-point advantage following two wide shots from the Indian.

The ending moments of the match were tightly fought as Prannoy was able to draw level at 14-14 and 17-17. However, Naraoka finally secured his victory after Prannoy sent one wide, followed by another error at the net.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bring it 🔛 💪<a href="https://twitter.com/PRANNOYHSPRI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PRANNOYHSPRI</a> faces Lu Guangzu in a must-win clash ⚔️<br><br>Watch the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BWFWorldTourFinals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BWFWorldTourFinals</a> on Dec 8, 9:30 am onwards, LIVE on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JioCInema?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JioCInema</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sports18?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sports18</a> 1 📱📺<br> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bangkok2022?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Bangkok2022</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZWtfdqdV7W">pic.twitter.com/ZWtfdqdV7W</a></p>&mdash; Sports18 (@Sports18) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sports18/status/1600702251252662272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The victory improved the Naraoka's win-loss record against Prannoy to 2-0, having won their previous clash at the Singapore Open in July.

After the loss, Prannoy said, "I thought I started rushing and made errors from my end. It was probably a bad strategy. I should have been more patient. I was coming into the good side. I could have been more patient. I was doubting myself in a couple of areas in the third game. Maybe lack of match practice made it uncomfortable."

Prannoy will lock horns with Lu Guang Zu of China in his next group A clash of the World Tour Finals on December 8.