The best man won: HS Prannoy ends Lakshya Sen's run

The moment Lakshya Sen’s shot to the back went long, HS Prannoy dropped his racquet, lifted his hands and screamed in celebration. The 30-year-old had reached the quarter-finals of the World Championships for only the second time in his career. But almost instantly after relishing the moment, Prannoy ran to Lakshya who was waiting at the net, shook his hand and gave him a comforting hug before saying, “Let’s catch up in the room.”

PREMIUM

Close friends, the two are also roommates in Tokyo but did not discuss much the Round of 16 match before going to bed on Wednesday night. “We just said that both of us will give our best and let’s see what happens,” said Prannoy.

Half a day later at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, both did exactly that, playing a thrilling contest that see-sawed throughout an hour and 15 minutes before Prannoy rallied from behind to prevail 17-21, 21-16, 21-16.

“We don’t have a bad vibe between us. We are very good friends. Lakshya is an extremely professional player, whether off court or on it. It is one of the main reasons why he is playing at this level. Otherwise, you can’t. During tournaments we always support each other,” said world No 18 Prannoy.

Though the two have known each other for years, they only started gelling in the last couple. That friendship blossomed further during India’s victorious Thomas Cup campaign in May where both delivered on court and then danced, and partied off it together.

“This year we’ve shared rooms during a lot of tournaments. But I think we started respecting each other a lot more during the Thomas Cup campaign. We have that understanding that both of us are working hard, putting in the hours, focused on winning—which means a lot to both of us—and beating each other. It’s very professional on court,” said Prannoy, a former world No 8.

The two have met four times on court—all this year—with Lakshya coming out on top the first two times at the India Open and German Open. Prannoy downed the 21-year-old Lakshya at the Indonesia Open in June and again on Thursday. “But once we are off the court, we party together,” added Prannoy.

An all-Indian pre-quarterfinal, both shuttlers had no coach support in either corner—an unwritten rule players and coaches adhere to in most tournaments. Though tight, Lakshya always seemed in charge of the first game.

The newly crowned Commonwealth Games champion was much more agile and flexible with his shots and movement, catching his senior off guard and racing away to a 17-10 lead in the first game. Prannoy tried fighting back, saving three game points, but Lakshya closed the game in his favour on the fourth.

The tables were turned on the ninth seed in the second game with Prannoy attacking from the start to open up a 7-3 lead. Lakshya took his chances and made some brilliant retrieves to close the gap at 11-all but Prannoy started opening the gap again. He not just attacked more but also defended brilliantly, turning it into offence. From 16-15, Prannoy raced away to game point, closing the game on his second attempt to push the match into the decider.

The contest remained extremely tight at the start of the third game with neither allowing the other more than a point’s gap. But after 6-all, errors started creeping into Lakshya’s game with some of his smashes going wide. Prannoy forced his opponent to make some more errors in a gripping, high-quality battle that tested the fitness of both shuttlers. The movement and pace increased but Prannoy was able to use his experience, defend better and come out a convincing winner against last edition’s bronze medallist.

“Winning one more round in a tournament like this is a big thing. It’s really important. It was a tough game where I had to dig deep. It was not easy against Lakshya who has been playing extremely well and has improved massively in the last year which is why I celebrated a little (on court),” said Prannoy.

In the last eight clash, Prannoy will take on world No 23 Zhao Jun Peng, who the Indian has faced only once till date at the Indonesia Open semi-final where the Chinese came out on top in straight games. Zhao also beat Kidambi Srikanth in the Round of 32 before ousting fifth seed and reigning Asian champion Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia on Thursday.

“He’s tricky player, a left hander which makes it tricky. I could have played better against him in Indonesia. He’s had two good wins—beating Lee Zii Jia could not have been easy so it is going to be tight. I can’t give him easy points,” concluded Prannoy.

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