Swiss Open 2021: Sai Praneeth stumbles against Lee Zii Jia
Follow Us
sai praneeth
India’s top Olympic hopeful Sai Praneeth was up against Malaysia’s emerging star Lee Zii Jia in the quarterfinal of the Yonex Swiss Open. Lee was seeded second, while Praneeth was seeded number 5.
A lackluster game by Praneeth
It was a lackluster performance by Praneeth in the men’s singles quarter-final of the Swiss Open in the first game as he went down to Jia 21-14. Lee was making Praneeth move all around the court and forcing errors in return. Lee showed brilliant defense with the attack Praneeth was throwing at him.
The second game looked better as Praneeth was making less mistakes and returning attacks and defending better against the young Malaysian.
The Malaysian further took his game a notch higher as he went into the lead at the mid-game interval 11-6 with a spree of back-to-back points.
Lee sped off to 15-10 lead as Praneeth struggled to find answers and return shots with interest. He made a mini-comback getting back almost level 16-17 by condtructing rakkies and forcing out errors from Lee. He gave up points as he missed shots down the line and failed to return shots over the net.
Lee Zii Jia took complete advantage of that and kept up his attack, going into match point opportunities 21-16. Praneeth saved one match point. With a netblock from Zii Jia to Sai’s cross-court drop, falling along the line in Praneeth’s court, the Indian’s hope of a semi-final berth went crashing. Lee Zii Jia won with a scoreline of 21-14, 21-17.
Praneeth surely wasn’t at his best, unable to play his game. He had beaten Misha Zilberman and Pablo Abian in the earlier rounds in straight sets on his way to this quarterfinal. Compatriot Ajay Jayaram also suffered a crushing defeat earlier today as he lost 21-9, 21-6 to 19-year-old Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
Also Read: Swiss Open 2021: Ajay Jayaram crashes out in quarterfinals following a crushing defeat
Stay Updated!
Medha Kattige
(117 Articles Published)