Kento Momota

Prannoy beats two-time World Champion Kento Momota 21-17, 21-16; to play Lakshya Sen in pre-quarters.

Seeded 9 and coming off a title, Lakshya Sen will count as a scalp for Prannoy who said his goal is looking to playing “one more round” each day at the World’s. Momota – or his ranking and reputation – had expected to stalk and spook the Indians in the lower quarter of the draw, though the players themselves might well have believed he was imminently beatable. The bronze medallist from 2021 is nicely warming up for his second go at the medal, and is known to eye finals, nothing less. His opponent, whose ability to shred a reputation has never been in doubt – he’s beaten all the top names of the day, on the other hand, was riding his confidence and self-assurance that’s come from backing his own talent, buying into his own genius, scoffing at comparisons with other’s careers and knowing intrinsically that fitness-permitting, he has every shot in the book – and its doppleganger deceptive double, to outsmart the best in the world. Prannoy had trained for endurance to deal with the slow courts, he would later talk of the absolute control he wielded. To Prannoy’s credit he didn’t doubt himself one bit the few times Momota threatened to break loose, closing in at 13-12 in the opener.