Beijing, July 22 (IANS) After producing a stunning comeback to defeat world No. 18 Koki Watanabe in the opening round of the China Open, Indian shuttler HS Prannoy expressed surprise at his own performance, describing it as ‘unexpected’ and admitting that he felt lucky to be on the winning side.

Prannoy staged a remarkable comeback to defeat world No. 18 Watanabe 8-21, 21-16, 23-21 in the opening round of the China Open on Tuesday. He was trailing 2-11 in the deciding game before pulling off a comeback of the ages to wrap up the win.

“Unexpected, I would say. It doesn’t go your way most of the times. I’m lucky to be on the winning side. You have to take all wins as they come. Yeah, I think at this point of my career, I think each and every win kind of matters out there. But I’m happy to be back on tour,” Prannoy said of his gruelling win.

Prannoy was never really in the contest during the opening game, which he lost 8-11. However, after a closely fought start to the second game, the Indian managed to pull ahead and force a decider with a 21-16 win.

In the third game, it seemed the match was firmly heading Watanabe’s way, as Prannoy trailed 2-11 at the interval. But the Indian launched a spirited comeback, reeling off five quick points to begin closing the gap. He narrowed it down to 15-18, and then found himself facing five match points at 15-20.

What followed was a remarkable turnaround. Showing nerves of steel, Prannoy saved all five match points and completed a stunning comeback to win the decider and the match after a 57-minute thriller.

“There have been small breaks here and there. Obviously the level of playing men’s singles has gone really high. So winning each round is getting tougher day by day. Struggling to keep up with the younger guys. I think the average age has become 22-23 all of a sudden in the men’s singles category. A lot of fresh faces and you don’t really know what their game is. So I think it’s tough to be a veteran out there,” the 33-year-old Indian added.

Prannoy, a world Championship bronze medallist, is looking forward to the World Championships, scheduled from August 25 to 31 in France. “I think the World Championship is always one of those events where as a player you always look forward to and you always want to perform better in a World Championship. I think I’ve always been excited with these kind of bigger events. I think we have one month to go and I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.

Prannoy concluded by saying he wants to go a step ahead from his previous campaign when he bagged bronze in Denmark in 2023. “I think Denmark was very, very special for me. I would really love to go one more step ahead from Denmark.”

The world no. 35 will next play ChouTien Chen of Taipei in the round of 16 of the China Open, the year’s last Super 1000 event, on Wednesday.

–IANS

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