Tsuneyama, Christie advance to SFs of New Zealand Open

Speed Post News Network

Patna : World No 26 in Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings H S Prannoy, 26, India, lost to World No 11 and 5th seed Kanta Tsuneyama, 22, Japan, in the quarter-finals of Barfoot & Thompson New Zealand Open at Eventfinda Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand, on May 3, 2019.

Tsuneyama beat Prannoy in a tough three-game contest 17-21, 21-15, 21-14 in 73 minutes coming from behind in the quarter-finals to enter the semi-finals. Tsuneyama won 59 rallies in the match to 50 by Prannoy. He won 9 consecutive points in the match to 5 by Prannoy. The two players are now locked 1-1 head to head.

World No 9 and 3rd seed Jonatan Christie, 21, Indonesia, also entered the SFs of the tournament after beating World No 109 Sun Feixiang, 20, China, 21-11, 21-9 in 37 minutes in the quarter-finals. Christie, the Asian Games Gold Medallist, won 42 rallies in the match to 20 by Feixiang. He won 7 consecutive points in the match to 2 by Feixiang. Christie now leads Feixiang 2-0 head to head.