India shuttler fails to achieve four straight wins over Hong Kong’s NG Ka Long Angus, who triumphs 21-17, 21-9, 21-17 in semis
India’s HS Prannoy returns to Hong Kong’s NG Ka Long Angus during their Malaysia Masters semi-finals in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. Pic/AFP
Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy’s rampaging run at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament hit a roadblock as he slipped to a narrow three-game loss against Hong Kong’s NG Ka Long Angus in a mistake-filled men’s singles semi-finals here on Saturday.
Another semis heartbreak
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It was heartbreak once again in the semi-finals for the Indian as he squandered a one-game advantage to go down 21-17, 9-21, 17-21 against NG Ka Long after battling for an hour and four minutes at the Axiata Arena here.
Heading into the match with a 4-4 career record, Prannoy, who had defeated Ng Ka Long in the last three meetings, picked the good side after winning the toss.
Error-filled game
It seemed to come back to haunt him as he looked in firm control in the first game but struggled with his length and drowned in a pool of unforced errors after changing ends. With errors piling up, Prannoy fell far behind.
In the third game, Prannoy once again looked in control of the proceedings initially as he quickly established a 8-3 lead but the Hong Kong player then scripted a sensational recovery, winning eight of the next nine points, to enter the interval with an important two-point lead and punished the Indian’s weak returns.
After changing ends for the last time, Prannoy tried to instill pace in the rallies but Ng Ka Long managed to lead 16-12.
He produced two body smashes to narrow the lead down to 16-17 to conjure hopes of a turnaround but a relentless Ng Ka Long won a long rally and then grabbed three match points after the Indian committed a net error. He converted it with a delightful block and jumped in celebration.
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