Indian shuttler HS Prannoy lost a closely-fought second-round match against Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei to bow out of the Japan Masters Super 500 badminton tournament at Kumamoto in Japan on Thursday.
![India's HS Prannoy(PTI) India's HS Prannoy(PTI)](https://www.hindustantimes.com/ht-img/img/2023/11/16/550x309/PTI10-06-2023-000185A-0_1700142153842_1700142212802.jpg)
The Asian Games bronze medallist Indian, who returned to action after recovering from a back injury, squandered an opening game advantage to lose 21-19 16-21 19-21 to world no. 12 Chen in a 73-minute men’s singles match that went down the wire.
Prannoy’s defeat brought curtains on India’s campaign at the tournament.
The world number 8 Indian looked in control in the first game as he opened up a 4-0 lead and managed to stay 11-8 ahead at the break.
Chen kept fighting to keep himself close but Prannoy sealed the opening game.
Chen got his act together after the opening reversal and took 5-0 lead quickly. Though Prannoy managed to draw parity at 10-10, Chen reeled off four quick points to create a gap, which the Indian couldn’t bridge.
The Chinese Taipei player carried the momentum in the decider, leading 12-4 at one stage. Soon Prannoy produced his trademark fightback to slowly and steadily draw parity at 19-19.
Chen, however, recovered in the nick of time to win the decider 21-19 and pocket the match.