Australian Open badminton: Armed with game and fitness to win deciders, Prannoy beats No.2 Ginting, enters semis | Badminton News

HS Prannoy displayed patience to weather an Anthony Ginting blitz every 3-4 points and defeat the Indonesian World No 2, 16-21, 21-17, 21-14 to win the Australian Open Super 500 quarterfinals in Sydney. Showing physical fortitude to stay in the rally, Prannoy stuck to strategy and drew out errors from the fast hitting Indonesian to make the semifinals in 73 minutes.Prannoy will face young Indian challenger Priyanshu Rajawat who defeated his senior and gamesake Kidambi Srikanth 21-13, 21-8 in a lopsided 30 minute encounter. The 31-year-old Prannoy was always known for his power-packed backhand game that slayed top names. But it is in the deciders since the Thomas Cup triumph that he has transformed into a beast, out thinking opponents even when tired, and never being out of the reckoning even if he’s dropped the opener.
Ginting had opened up a four point lead in the first, as Prannoy’s early rushing cost him errors in the net and sending them long, and he trailed 6-11. He was scoring off the cross smashes and straight pushes to the Ginting backhand and making him tw and turn on either flanks like at 10-14, but the Indonesian collected a steady stream of points from his down the line smashes and sealed it 21-16 with a cross hit.

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Ginting had taken the opener, but given enough evidence that his attack was still laced with smashing errors as he hit wide and long and into the net often. In the second, Prannoy would absorb the pressure of the few outrageous winners, and patiently wait for the makes.
More importantly, the Indian’s defense held firm and pushed the Indonesian to hit to the lines and play tight dribbles at the net constructing the errors. And he didn’t allow Ginting to dictate the pace from his down the line punch to Prannoy’s forehand. Avoiding the backhand, Prannoy wasn’t too perturbed when Ginting was hitting the few outright winners. But he wouldn’t allow a lead to balloon up in the second as he stayed neck to neck till 9-9.
Keeping pace with fast exchanges, Prannoy started to break away at 10-9 when Ginting sent the shuttle wide. A cross smash would give him the 11-9 lead and he floated the shuttle at an awkward length onto Ginting at 13-9. He would go up 15-10 increasing the fast attacks, but his patience was evident in closing out the second.
At 12-15 Ginting had a remarkable 360 spin return, but Prannoy would take that in his stride and enlarge the lead to 20-13 drawing out Ginting errors at the net which inevitably followed the sensational errors. His own errors to the backline and a smash into the net would make things interesting as the Tokyo Olympics bronze medall from Indonesia would come within 20-17 score margin.

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However Prannoy would compose himself, bide his time at the net and then go for the cross kill to level the set scores. All the time, he had avoided the backhand and backed off when the quick shuttle was high, and Ginting was hitting wildly.
Prannoy would take the initiative early and race to a 4-0 lead. It was all about playing that one more shot, keeping the shuttle in play and waiting for Ginting to blink in the fast exchanges especially at the net. The exchanges were fast, but Prannoy struck a length that made it too high for Ginting to drive comfortably as the Indian opened up a 11-7 lead. A quick cross kill at the net would make it 14-8 and a backhand cross would reappear to make it 15-8.
Ginting would collect the next 5 points to reach 15-13 as Ginting got smashes in and Prannoy smashed wide. But the long run of points would come to an end when the Indonesian sent one long. Prannoy was being made to work hard in fast and low retrieves, and had to wait out for his opportunity to smash cross and big to go to 17-13.
Secure in the assurance that Ginting errors would pool up if he defended stoutly, the World No 9 Prannoy would send a return angled into Ginting’s body at 19-14. A straight smash would make it 20-14, and for the final point, Prannoy would hit deep twice to pin Ginting back before drawing out a return dumped into the net to win the decider this time.
At the All England, Prannoy had failed to close out the third set against Ginting, but would learn from that experience. “Prannoy has been pretty disciplined in his approach. Against every top player, he’s playing the game that’s required, according to strategy,” coach Pullela Gopichand said. He reckoned the Malaysian Masters winner had worked hard over the last few weeks, despite the reverses. “He’s played some ten matches where he’s had to dig deep and pull through,” he added.
Prannoy’s physical fortitude also came in for praise. “He’s figured things out and has clarity on his strengths and weaknesses. Physically, he has the ability to stay pushed and retrieve in long rallies. He’s undeterred being tired, and can push even when exhausted,” Gopichand added.
Prannoy runs into a tricky challenge in the form of Priyanshu Rajawat in his third semifinal of the season, the youngster’s first at the Super 500 level. Again an opponent blessed with speed, Prannoy will need to weather out the storm of winners that have been flowing at the net and from smashes from the back for Priyanshu.
The fast shuttle conditions don’t suit either, but both academy mates who would’ve trained for the net exchanges countless times in practice, and have adapted well to the Sydney courts. “It needed maturity to handle the pressure on his own and figure out the strategy against Srikanth with no coaches sitting. Priyanshu was also smart and brave against the clever Wang Tzu Wei yesterday. The last few weeks have been a good learning experience for him. He started 18 days back on this tournament swing and had some close losses. But he’s won the last two days, so that’s creditable,” Gopichand said of Rajawat.