Only top eight players, on the basis of their performances in the last 12 months, qualified for this tournament beginning in Bangkok on Wednesday (Dec 7).
Group ‘B’ comprises world No. 3 Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, world No.4 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei and Indonesians world No. 5 Jonatan Christie and world No. 7 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.
Two players from each group make it to the semifinals in this round robin tournament.
But for Axelsen, the other three in Group A are outside the top-10 whereas all four in Group B are top-10 players.
To make it to the semifinals, Prannoy should win at least two matches from his group. While it may be difficult to down world champion Viktor Axelsen, who won 11 titles out of the 15 tournaments he played this year, Prannoy may fancy his chances against Naraoka and Guang Zu.
Japanese youngster Naraoka is one of the most improved player this year. He won the Vietnam Open and reached the finals at Korea Masters, Singapore Open and Taipei Open.
Prannoy has played Naraoka and Gaung Zu only once but lost to both of them. While Naraoka defeated Prannoy in the quarterfinals of Singapore Open 12-21, 21-14, 21-18, Gaung Zu downed the Indian in the pre-quarterfinals of the French Open 19-21, 22-20, 19-21.
Both Prannoy and Gaung Zu did not win a single tournament this year but made it to the semifinals and quarterfinals of several major events.
Prannoy started 2022 by reaching the quarterfinals of India Open, German Open and Syed Modi tournament before losing in the final of Swiss Open in March. He reached the semifinals of Indonesia Open which is a Super-1000 event.
The Kerala shuttler trained hard over the last few weeks and is aware that this is his best chance to win the first major title of his career.
At the BWF award ceremony on Monday, Prannoy won the ‘Best Dressed Male’ award. Prannoy tweeted, “Wearing this specially created outfit by @ManishantarDESI Handwoven in Varanasi & handmade with love in Delhi And to get awarded with the Best Dressed Male was super cool.
WORLD TOUR FINALS 2022 – GALA DINNER – Wearing this specially created outfit by @ManishantarDESI Handwoven in Va… https://t.co/v0ilrzsmGP
— PRANNOY HS (@PRANNOYHSPRI) 1670254949000
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