Young Indian shuttler Priyanshu Rajawat squandered a one-game advantage to go down to Chi Yu Jen of Chinese Taipei in the semifinal of the Syed Modi International badminton tournament on Saturday. The 21-year-old from Madhya Pradesh, who won the Orleans Masters Super 300 this season, toiled hard for one hour 14 minutes before losing 21-18 14-21 17-21. (Streaming | More Badminton News)
Priyanshu flourished with his cross court shots but his net play was not as polished as he fell into a pool of errors to let the opportunity to move to the final slip.
Not much separated the two shuttlers at the beginning of the contest with the duo moving together from 2-2 to 8-8. But two unforced errors from the Indian saw Jen eke out a two-point lead.
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Priyanshu unleashed a jump cross court smash and a perfect net dribble but Jen took a slender lead of 11-10 at the interval. The Indian committed few unforced errors while Jen produced a straight backhand push and then a smash to make it 15-11.
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But Priyanshu, who was part of the Indian team that won the 2022 Thomas Cup, regained control and turned the tables with a flurry of cross court returns to move to 17-15.
It was again 18-18 but two unforced errors from Jen gave two-game points to Priyanshu, who sealed it when the Taiwanese sprayed the shuttle into the net again.
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The Indian initially led 4-2 in the second game but a slew of unforced errors again pegged him back as he trailed 4-7.
A straight forehand push on the backline helped him to break the run of play as he clawed back at 7-7 with a backhand cross court flick.
But his poor net play again came back to haunt him as he was 7-11 behind at the break.
Jen soon moved to 15-9 and kept a firm grip on the rallies to grab six game points. He took the match to the decider when the Indian went long.
The third game witnessed some intense battles as the duo led 3-3 before Jen moved to 7-4. The Taiwanese was 10-6 up next but Priyanshu brought up another cross court and then held his own at the net to make it 9-10.
Priyanshu kept fighting as it was 11-13 at one stage but then the Indian sprayed far too many shots, mainly his backhand, into the net to allow Jen to zoom to 17-12.
Priyanshu, who looked spent, faltered at the front court to hand six match points to the Taiwanese, who converted in his fourth attempt when the Indian again went wide.
With Priyanshu's defeat, the women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto are the only Indians remaining in the tournament. The seventh seed duo will take on top seeds Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota for a place in the final.
