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World No. 8 HS Prannoy made his much-awaited comeback with a hard-fought 22-20, 19-21, 21-17 victory over the 18th-ranked Lee Cheuk Yiu at the Japan Masters 2023 in Kumamotomon Wednesday. He will now lock horns with World No. 12 Chou Tien Chen on Thursday (November 16) for a place in the quarter-finals of this Super 500 event.
This is the 31-year-old Indian's first tournament since winning a historic men's singles bronze medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in September. A back injury put him on the sidelines for the subsequent few weeks before his return to action in Japan.
Japan Masters 2023, HS Prannoy vs Chou Tien Chen: Head-to-head and Prediction
Chou Tien Chen leads HS Prannoy 6-4 in the head-to-head. They have met twice already this year, evenly splitting their two meetings. While Tien Chen came out victorious 21-19, 21-15 at the Sudirman Cup, Prannoy edged him 16-21, 21-14, 21-13 at the Malaysia Masters.
Chinese Taipei star Chou Tien Chen has been a veteran on the badminton circuit. The 33-year-old reached a career-high world ranking of No. 2 in 2019. Among his major achievements are medals from the BWF World Championships, Asian Games and the Asian Championships.
Tien Chen has eight titles on the BWF World Tour to his name. He has reached two finals this year, winning the Hylo Open earlier this month and finishing as the runner-up at the Swiss Open in March.
He began his Japan Masters campaign with a facile 21-14, 21-9 victory over Kanta Tsuneyama on Wednesday.
Prannoy, meanwhile, is having the season of his life. The India No. 1 has tasted title glory at the Malaysia Masters while finishing second-best at the Australian Open earlier this year.
He added more feathers to his cap by clinching medals from the BWF World Championships and the Asian Games.
Prannoy's fitness level will surely be tested by the Chinese Taipei shuttler in their upcoming encounter. While Prannoy needed one hour and four minutes to see off Lee Cheuk Yiu in a grueling first-round battle, Tien Chen raced past Tsuneyama in just 35 minutes.
It now remains to be seen how much the Keralite still has in his reserves to slug it out with the experienced campaigner.
Japan Masters 2023, HS Prannoy vs Chou Tien Chen: Date and time
Seventh seed HS Prannoy and Chou Tien Chen will square off in the men's singles Round of 16 at the Japan Masters 2023 on Thursday in the 10th match of the day on Court 4 at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium.
Date: November 16, 2023
Round: Second round (Round of 16)
Time: Approx. 3 pm local time; 11.30 am IST
Venue: Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium, Kumamoto, Japan
Japan Masters 2023, HS Prannoy vs Chou Tien Chen: Where to watch & live streaming details
This Japan Masters 2023 match will not be broadcast live in India on any channel. Live streaming will, however, be available on YouTube on BWF.TV. Live scores can also be followed on the tournament software.
