Kodai Naraoka of Japan defeated Prannoy in his first match of the mega tournament on Wednesday. Even if the third-seeded Indian badminton player defeats Tokyo 2020 winner Viktor Axelsen in the last group match on Friday, the back-to-back losses will not allow him to advance to the semi-final
HS Prannoy, ranked 12th in the world, was defeated by world No. 14 Japanese shuttler 21-12, 9-21, 21-17 in a men's singles Group A match that lasted an hour.
The World No. 12, playing in his first year-end tournament, has been clubbed in Group A along with Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, Japan's Kodai Naraoka and China's Lu Guang Zu.
Playing on court 1, Sindhu overcame a strong challenge from her Chinese rival Han Yue 17-21 21-11 21-19 in a contest lasting 62 minutes to book her semifinal berth.