Paris Olympics 2024 Badminton: HS Prannoy starts campaign with hard-fought victory over Germany's Fabian Roth
India's HS Prannoy began his campaign at the Paris Olympics 2024 with a hard-fought victory against Germany’s Fabian Roth in his opening group stage. Prannoy, who was battling chikungunya and experiencing significant joint pain just before the Olympics, showed incredible resilience and determination on the court.
The opening set saw both players testing the conditions, starting neck and neck at 5-5. The game continued to be close, with Prannoy taking a narrow 11-10 lead at the interval. However, Roth fought back, and Prannoy found himself trailing 11-14 and then 13-16.
Undeterred, Prannoy launched a comeback, leveling the score at 16-16 after a grueling rally. Prannoy executed some incredible dives and cross-court smashes and then retook the lead at 18-17 and wrapped up the intense first set at 21-18.
Unlike the tightly contested first set, the second set saw Prannoy taking control early on. After an initial 2-2 tie, Prannoy surged ahead, to lead 11-6 at the interval. Prannoy continued to dominate, extending his lead to 15-10 and then 17-11. Prannoy wrapped up the set and match with a convincing 21-12 victory.
The match saw some incredibly long rallies, with neither Prannoy nor Roth making any unforced errors. The German played an extremely steady game, forcing Prannoy to dig deep. But the Indian, using all his experience, managed to get past the German.
HS Prannoy will now face Vietnam’s Vie Le Duc Phat in his next group stage match on July 31 at 11:00 PM IST.
PV Sindhu starts campaign at the Paris Olympics 2024 with an easy victory
Earlier in the day, two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu started her campaign at the Paris Olympics 2024 with a comfortable victory over Maldives’ Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq.
After taking the first set 21-9, the Indian shuttler hardly broke a sweat in the second game and breezed past Abdul Razzaq to clinch the set and match 21-6. Sindhu will now be seen in action on July 31 at 12:50 PM IST.