Thailand Masters 2023 badminton: B Sai Praneeth’s quarter-final loss brings India’s campaign to an end

Indian badminton player B Sai Praneeth lost to Youth Olympic Games champion Li Shi Feng of China in the quarter-finals of the Thailand Masters 2023 men’s singles event in Bangkok on Friday. 

The loss also ended India’s challenge at the BWF Super 300 tournament as no other Indian badminton player reached the quarter-finals at the event. 

B Sai Praneeth made a decent start to the match but lost his momentum to lose 21-17, 21-23, 21-18 in one hour and 23 minutes. B Sai Praneeth has not been in the semi-finals of a BWF World Tour event since winning the bronze medal at the BWF world championships in 2019. 

B Sai Praneeth, 49th in the badminton world rankings, led Li Shi Feng 15-10 in the first game. The Indian badminton player lost 11 of the next 13 points to trail 1-0 in the match. 

Li Shi Feng, seeded sixth and world No. 23, led B Sai Praneeth by two points at the second break. The Chinese shuttler then pressed his advantage to take a 19-15 lead over B Sai Praneeth.

B Sai Praneeth, a former world No. 10, however, upped his game and stunned Li Shi Feng to take the match into the decider. 

Both B Sai Praneeth and Li Shi Feng engaged in close rallies in the third game. With scores tied at 12-12, Li Shi Feng shifted gears to take the next six points and eventually won the contest to move into the semi-finals.

The two shuttlers had earlier met at Malaysia Masters last year with Li Shi Feng winning in straight games.

The Indian badminton players, including former world champion PV Sindhu, Thomas Cup heroes Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy, will be seen in action next at the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships 2023 in Dubai from February 14 to 19.