LUCKNOW: 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 here 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 minutes before losing 21-18, 14-21, 17-21.
Not much separated the two shuttlers at the beginning of the contest with Jen taking a slender lead of 11-10 at the interval.
Jen continued to build on his lead after the break, racing to 15-11. But Priyanshu, who was part of the Indian team that won the 2022 Thomas Cup, managed to turn things around as he capitalised on Jen’s errors to take the first game in 23 minutes.
However, the inexperienced Priyanshu failed to hold on to the winning momentum.
The Indian, who had the backing of the crowd, was error-prone, giving Jen the perfect opportunity to fight back and force a decider.
In the final game, Priyanshu looked completely spent. The youngster crumbled under pressure as errors kept flowing. He eventually conceded the game and the match.
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. Agencies
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