BWF World Tour Finals: HS Prannoy beats Viktor Axelsen
What's the story
After successive defeats, Indian shuttler HS Prannoy bowed out with a bang by beating world number one Viktor Axelsen at the BWF World Tour Finals on Friday. Prannoy lost the first game 14-21 before making a sound effort to snatch a 21-17, 21-18 win over Axelsen in a match that lasted 51 minutes. This is his second win over Axelsen in seven meetings.
Match
Prannoy lost his opening-round match 11-21, 21-9, 17-21
On Wednesday, Prannoy suffered a defeat versus an in-form Kodai Naraoka of Japan in the opening match in Bangkok, Thailand. World No. 12 Prannoy, showed superb recovery after the opening game loss. He kept fighting in the decider before three unforced errors at the death saw him lose 11-21, 21-9, 17-21 to Naraoka in an hour long contest.
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A second successive defeat for Prannoy
On Thursday, Prannoy went down fighting against China's Guang Zu Lu in his second round-robin match. Prannoy lost to Zu Lu 21-23, 21-17, 19-21 in a gruelling 84-minute contest.
Information
Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen has reached last four
Olympic champion Axelsen confirmed his berth in the semi-finals earlier with wins over Naraoka and Guang Zu in Group A. However, the loss versus Prannoy will make Axelsen wary ahead of a last-four race.