India's HS Prannoy smashes into semi-finals
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India's Backhand Beast HS Prannoy enters the semi-finals beating world number 13 Rasmus Gemke of Denmark in the Indonesia Open Super 1000 badminton tournament in Jakarta on Friday. This is the second semi-final appearance of the world number 23 at the Indonesia event.
In the 2017 edition of the tournament, Prannoy had reached the semi-finals to the final four, beating the former Olympic gold medallist Chen Long and Malaysian great Lee Chong Wei.
The opponent Gemke was competing in the match sustaining knee injuries. Prannoy unleashed his performance closely observing the mistakes made by his opponents. He was leading the game from its very beginning by bagging a 5-0 gain right before the break.
However, Gemke thrashed back in the first half of the second game. After lagging 3-6 initially, he started moving well to a 6-6 with a smash. Gemke again at 9-9 with a prompt net shot but the Indian ensured a two-point cushion at the interval.
Prannoy's return on the forehead and right hand of the opponent earned him points. A similar shot took the Indian to eight match points and he converted it with Gemke's return hitting the net.
The semi-finalist who will compete with China's Zhao Jun Peng on Saturday, took over his Twitter to share his victory moment.
" SEMIFINALSSSS CALLINGGGG!! Thanks to the entire crowd who stayed this late to support me in the stadium today and glad to get that win and reach Indonesian Open Semifinals. Let's get it tomorrow", said the badminton player on Twitter.