As brilliant as the second set 4-0 lead with an injection of pace was for HS Prannoy, his constant pushing of the accelerator was a dead giveaway that he wanted this World Championships semifinal wrapped up in two sets.His opponent Kunlavut Vitidsarn loves to bide his time and go after the attacking players’ desperation to finish, and his patient game at the India Open had claimed Viktor Axelsen earlier this year in a similar way.Prannoy revealed his cards way too soon by speeding up, as Vitidsarn tired out the Indian further. Prannoy’s fine run came to a 21-18, 13-21, 14-21 end. In what was a glorious effort at 31 playing in Axelsen’s den, Prannoy will leave Copenhagen with a bold bronze anyway.Unlike his previous opponents Loh Kean Yew and Axelsen, Vitidsarn doesn’t try to hit his way out of trouble and couldn’t be broken with leads. So even after Prannoy took the opener with some accurate shotmaking, the Thai remained compact in rallies and didn’t flake away.He would put a price on the net game Prannoy drew him into, and make the Indian work hard in constructing points by defending well. Yes, Prannoy was welcome to play the tight dribbles and the hairpin net game, but the Thai would make him bend too, and snatch errors when trying to make the below-the-tape shots. On the midcourt as well, Vitidsarn pushed Prannoy on the low returns and ate into his energy reserves. Vitidsarn did Prannoy what Prannoy had done to Axelsen on Friday.It wasn’t just that Prannoy ran out of steam eventually, but that Vitidsarn could even win rallies with a last shot, that Prannoy had dictated and mentally exhausted him by not going away.It had started with a flourish for Prannoy. His down-the-lines taking off from where he left against Axelsen. It wasn’t just the winners that looked spectacular. It was his way to pepper Vitidsarn on the backhand corner, to open up the court and suck errors into the net.422 kph straight smashBut a threaded 422 kph straight smash at 11-6 and later a fine drop at 16-11 from Vitidsarn told Prannoy the Thai was working his way into the match. From trailing 13-18, Vitidsarn came to within 17-19 making Prannoy chase high tosses one moment and picking Prannoy’s deception and teasing out a net error next. Prannoy got a smash plumb on the backline at 20-17 to ease the pressure, but he sensed Vitidsarn was close on his tail.
