HS Prannoy calls for better referral system in BWF Super 500 tournament

Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy expressed his dissatisfaction over the lack of hawk eye technology on every court at the Japan Masters Super 500 tournament on Thursday.

HS Prannoy lost a hard-fought battle against World number 12 Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the round of 16 of the Japan Masters. In a match that went on for 73 minutes.

After taking the lead in the first game, Prannoy failed to hold on to his advantage and lost the match despite being 19-19 in the deciding game.

However, Prannoy took to the social media website X (formerly Twitter) to express his displeasure over the unavailability of hawk eye technology on every court.

Hawk-eye is the technology that is used when players ask for referrals during badminton matches and help the umpires with close-line calls by displaying the point of impact of the shuttle on the court.

While the technology is available for the quarterfinals and the rounds after it, the round of 32 and round of 16 matches don't have the technology available.

Unfortunately, HS Prannoy was playing his match on the fourth court where the technology was not present and he lost a few contentious points.

In the deciding game at the score of 4-9, Prannoy hit a winner in the court that landed well within the back line but the umpire ruled the decision in favor of Chou Tien Chen leaving the Indian shuttler furious.

There were multiple other instances where Prannoy expressed his displeasure but was helpless due to lack of technology.

Coming back from an injury after the Asian Games bronze medal, HS Prannoy will prepare for the upcoming China Masters Super 750 tournament next week.