Badminton News: HS Prannoy, India's top-ranked singles player, suffered a defeat against Japan's Kodai Naraoka, ranked above him, by scores of 19-21, 13-21 at the Australian Open tournament Super 500 Friday.

Prannoy's defeat marked the end of the road for all Indian badminton players in the quarterfinals. Sameer Verma in women's singles, Sikki Reddy and B Sumeeth Reddy in mixed doubles and Aakarshi Kashyap in women's singles were also defeated on the same day.

In the first match, Prannoy came back from 10-16 down to tie the score at 18-18 and even took a one-point lead.

However, Naraoka kept his cool to secure the victory. The second game saw Naraoka dominate from 5-5, leaving Prannoy with no chance of a comeback. The match ended after just over an hour, with Naraoka emerging victorious.

Verma, who recently defeated former world number one Loh Kean Yew, was beaten by his opponent from Chinese Taipei, Lin Chun-Yi, ranked 17th in the world. Lin cruised to a comfortable 21-12, 21-13 victory in just 38 minutes.

Eighth seeds Summeth and Sikki face a tough challenge against top seeds Jian Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin in mixed doubles.

The top seed only needed about 30 minutes to claim a straight victory 21-12, 21-14.

In women's singles, eighth-seeded Aakarshi was defeated by Yu Po Pai of China Taipei by a score of 21-17, 21-12 in 42 minutes.

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Article keywords: India, HS Prannoy, Australian Open 2024